From inside to out the hp 8760w mobile workstation was built for the individual or organization that absolutely needs the Intel Core i7 possessor’s crunching-power and speed, a display with billion-pixel brilliance and color accuracy packaged in a super rugged, and for the most part ergonomic, portable workstation.

Fluid dynamics plays a critical role in many of the products that we encounter every day — from obvious applications such as water treatment systems and auto and aircraft aer odynamics to boundary-pushing usage in developing Olympic swimsuits, America’s Cup racing yachts, eco-friendly skyscraper HVAC systems, new plastic and glass materials, high-speed roller coasters, and leading-edge medical therapies. Behind the scenes, fluid dynamics is involved in the design and manufacture of hundreds of consumer, industrial and defense products. In any application that involves gas flow, liquid flow or heat transfer, fluid dynamics analysis can help deliver innovation and greater efficiency.

As software applications continue grow ever more complicated, it becomes increasingly hard to communicate the essentials to prospective users. One proven approach is the buyer's guide, but not in its original form. That was one step up from the throw-aways handed out at trade shows. Those covered features, functions and benefits as if the product existed in a vacuum, as if the prospects had no other software.

Those old-style brochures and hand-outs were really distilled sales pitches. If that was not what the prospect needed to hear, the sales inquiry withered away. Everyone missed an opportunity.

Today, buyer's guides are vital but easily overlooked pieces of the infrastructure of engineering design and analysis. These new-breed guides are interfaces to the sales process. They are a crucial first step in deciding whether to upgrade existing capabilities or switch to something new.

A good example of this new type of buyers guide comes from Siemens PLM Software—its new "Buyer's guide for pre- and postprocessing software" used with finite element analysis (FEA) software. Siemens subtitled it, "What you need to know before selecting an FEA solution."

In its old form, this might have been another yawn-inducer. Instead, it is a compelling white paper. It is a thoughtful analysis of, and response to, questions prospects raise whenever they confront new technology. The buyer's guide meets these questions head-on. Even today, some software developers seem to hope these questions won't be asked till they get a signed P.O.

Siemens PLM also made sure the guide touched on all the issues. It was developed in coordination with a large distributor that has its own FEA offerings, with application engineers from Siemens and other firms, and with independent consultants who train FEA newcomers and solve tough FEA problems on a fee basis. Finally, the "pre- and post" buyer's guide is one a series Siemens tailors for prospects in different FEA situations.

Transferring files between dissimilar systems can be a costly endeavor due to incompatible file formats. Traditionally, a loss of surface information occurs, rendering a model inaccurate. Valuable time and human resources are devoted to fixing the issues, while delivery schedules slip.
In addition, as today’s engineering environments become more complex the need is greater than ever for accurate 3D file translation. Disparate systems need to be able to consume and work with the same data in different ways throughout the product design and engineering workflow chain.
This paper offers the solution.

Meeting and Beating New Product Cost Targets
NPI AND PRODUCT COST TARGETS
If you are working on a new product development initiative (NPI) for a discrete manufacturer, you’re likely under increasing pressure to develop those products within specific cost, weight, market and quality targets under very tight timeframes. Developing and producing products that can meet all of these criteria, particularly cost, can be extremely challenging:

In this paper, using the automobile cooling grill as an example, I will introduce ZW3D’s mold design. I will focus on ZW3D’s hybrid modeling technology for large automobile products in creating parting curves, splitting core cavities and electrode design solutions.

The Walter Goetz Company was founded over one hundred years ago. With over 100 employees, the company provides subcontract services producing all types of semi or fully finished metal products for prototypes or small/medium sized production runs. To deliver this the company has continually purchased and upgraded a wide range of CNC cutting machines, employing a mix of laser, waterjet, punching and combination punch/laser technologies spanning several manufacturer brands.......

Excerpt:
“The biggest thing I can say is hyperMILL gets it,“ says Aerodyn programmer John Frandsen. “We can throw a model in and get a toolpath out without having to play with it. And it’s very intuitive – the toolpath you see on the screen looks like the toolpath you get on the machine.“

Kirklees College in the UK recently started its second term after installing 35 seats of VISI CAD/CAM software to ensure apprentices are fully trained on 5-axis machining – which lecturers say is absolutely vital to the future of manufacturing in the area. . . .

What is happening in Model Based Design (MBD)? There is mayhem, bedlam, pandemonium, chaos; driving engineers to the brink of exasperation. Why so much frustration? There are at least 10 different CAD suppliers, 3 different PDM tools, 5 CAD translation companies, 2 national CAD and digital standards, LOTAR, company standards, proprietary issues, data transfer, data consistency, multiple customers, multiple vendors, design updates, maintenance, PMI, interoperability and all this just to get a single part built. Why on earth would an engineer want to adopt a MBD practice with all this claptrap to deal with?

For the past 6 years Longview Advisors has completed a comprehensive collaboration and interoperability market survey targeted at engineering, IT and manufacturing professionals in the discrete manufacturing industry. The annual survey looks at trends and practices in important areas like collaboration, data exchange, preferred platforms and formats, 3D data deployment, software requirements, and much more. In this paper, we present and discuss results of the 2011 survey, including individual findings and important trends.

From the smallest component to the motor, BSH manufactures the entire dishwasher completely from scratch. The company has a dedicated department that designs and develops the assembly line and its machines. While delivering clean dishes is still the ultimate goal, dishwashers nowadays have to live up to ever-demanding customer expectations and different design requirements. In recent years, dishwasher sound quality has gained considerable importance.

Using Simpleware and Marc to Generate and Analyze Novel Implant Constructions
Simpleware provides a world leading solution for the conversion of 3D image data into high quality surface and volume meshes for 3D printing, CAD, FEA and CFD. The software was used to generate several implanted models of a femur, with externally identical implant designs but internally either being solid,

A typical deck mould produced by MonsterCAM with its Delcam software
Delcam’s PowerSHAPE design software and PowerMILL CAM system have been chosen by MonsterCAM to drive one of the UK’s largest independently-owned, continuous five-axis machining centres. The company’s EWW machine is 45 metres long, 7 metres wide and 4 metres high and has a volumetric cutting space of 1,260 cubic metres

The world’s most powerful sheet metal CAD/CAM software makes a continuing impact on an aerospace company’s bottom line, by halving the time to set up machining programs for its lasers and turret punches.

With expansion plans very firmly in the pipeline, sheet metal fabricator Metalcraft Europe Ltd did not want to be tied to one cutting machine manufacturer through the limitations of CNC software. So they opted for the versatility of Radan, the world's most powerful sheet metal software

“The UK Space Modelling Team could not manage without Edgecam – it has been so useful in helping us become real contenders on the world stage.” Those are the words of former World Champion space model flyer Mike Francies who uses the market leading CNC machining software to make moulds for all the UK team’s models.

Patented injection moulding analysis ahead of tool production, ensures that a number of components in a revolutionary water powered rock drill are manufactured to the degree of absolute precision required by mining operations around the world.

Sometimes productivity gains lurk in unexpected places. That was the case recently when 3-Dimensional Services Group found a way to dramatically increase uptime while improving quality and decreasing costs for Freed’s Bakery with one elegant and innovative new design.

It wasn’t nature that created straight lines in building – it was the limitations of technology. But with tailor-made CAD/CAM developments from Alphacam, Bolefloor curved flooring meets the true definition of unique. Each floorboard is
as individual as the tree it came from, meaning no two floors from Bolefloor are alike.

With advancements in technology, many companies in the manufacturing, industrial, and other related industries are turning to one particular emerging technology: 3D printing. 3D printing is being used for both prototyping and distributed manufacturing, and may even become a mass-market item thanks to its open-source nature, which easily offsets capital costs. Here’s an in-depth look at a few different types of 3D printing technologies in use today:

The 3D modelling capabilities of the world’s most powerful sheet metal CAD/CAM software, Radan, played a major part in developing a new product that is helping industry and commerce comply with health and safety regulations.

One of the world's leading manufacturers of print finishing equipment says using the universal Radbend software on its LVD press brake means folding its sheet metal components is almost like bending by numbers.

Linear guide rails developed by CNC machine-tool manufacturer Almac, ensure that Swiss watch-makers who use their ultra precise 3- to 5-axis machining centres produce a better quality component. Couple that to their long-standing use of Alphacam, one of the most popular CAM systems in Switzerland’s watch industry, and it’s easy to see why Almac are a leading supplier of high precision machines for all aspects of Swiss watch production.

Just under 600 seconds are all it takes for special propulsive engines on board the renowned European space launcher Ariane to do their job. And a number of components in those engines are manufactured through Edgecam CNC programs

When a mould-maker in the Czech Republic received an order from a company making electrical coupling components, they began the design and manufacturing process with specialist software they had only recently purchased.

Maintaining, preparing, and launching NASA's Shuttle fleet requires months, if not years, of work, dedication, and attention to massive amounts of detail. Managing and tracking the equipment, parts, documents, and processes involved plays a vital role in that effort.

It has been a very busy year in collaboration and interoperability. This paper discusses some of the hottest topics, technologies and solutions in this dynamic market. Some key advances have been made in the last year, but tough, persistent issues remain on everyone’s requirements list.

Lakowa is a development partner, systems supplier, and manufacturer that was founded in Wilthen, Germany in 1913. They specialize in developing and producing extraordinary plastic parts and use the 3D CAD/CAM solution, ZW3D to design them.

One of the UK’s leading fridge refurbishment companies uses the powerful Radan 3D CAD system for designing environmentally-friendly components which are instrumental in encouraging major superstores
to think about the “green” aspects of their fridges.

Those magnificent men with their cutting machines helped other magnificent men get their flying machine. Alphacam was the CAM system that produced the shaped wing struts for the re-creation of a famous early 20th Century monoplane

A company using state-of-the-art CAD/CAM software to manufacture high precision medical implants says the day may not be too far away when 9-axis machining is the norm for production engineering. Croom Precision uses Alphacam as both its CAD and CAM system.

The addition of detailed electronic circuit modeling in the latest release of the Mathcad software environment provides a powerful tool to simulate, optimize, and document the circuit design prior to building a PC board.

A uniquely configured punch press with a 47-tool turret and additional loading station holding a further 240 tools has been an essential investment to keep a family-run sheet metal subcontractor ahead of the competition.
Driven by Radan, the world’s most powerful sheet metal CAD/CAM software, the Amada EMZ 3610 is part of a £1.5m investment in machinery made by JC Metal Works during 2010 and the early part of 2011.

With Radan CAD/CAM software playing what a leading kitchen company calls an "essential role" in their stainless steel commercial kitchen business for more than ten years, they knew that its sister software packages Cabinet Vision and Alphacam would be just as essential to the success of their new wood-based domestic kitchen business

The bConverged Open Engineering Suite includes the all of the contents of CalculiX for Windows as well as an unmodified version of Gmsh for additional pre-processing capabilities (also integrated with SciTE), graphical launcher for CalculiX, CAD viewer and CAE data translators.

For the machine shop that supplies the aerospace industry, PCMM (portable coordinate measurement machine) and MBD (model based definition) are everyday terms that are integral parts of its daily inspection routines. In the effort to drive quality and control processes, aerospace OEM’s have altered the inspection methodology and the tools of their entire supply chain. Many of these suppliers are small or mid-sized machine shops that have invested in inspection hardware, software and processes to satisfy strict quality standards. With the success of these supply chain efforts, Portable CMM’s and the Model Based Definition Inspection technology are expected to spread to all industrial segments.

At Modine Manufacturing Company in
Wisconsin, U.S.A., designing charge air coolers and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) coolers is largely driven by emerging emission standards in the United
States and Europe. These new emission standards equate to higher thermal
loads and more rigorous durability requirements for automotive engine and
exhaust components. With the surge in demand for engine components that meet the new emission standards, it was apparent to Modine that it needed to conduct a greater number of concurrent engineering design projects without significantly impacting engineering headcount or physical test facility capital investment. Physical testing is expensive, and test capacity limitations make it nearly
impossible to turn around a design project quickly and efficiently through testing alone. Given these factors, the need for leveraging the virtual environment was clear.

"Laser scanners aren’t just for large engineering firms with big budgets, but also for small companies who want to provide their clients with state-of-the-art services and technology that in many cases exceed those of larger competitors.”

In the words of the Meatloaf song, “Two Out Of Three Ain’t Bad.” But when it comes to the complete picture for ensuring the absolute optimum use of CNC machines and cutting tools, only all three pieces of the jigsaw will suffice.

Edgecam plays a vital role in aerospace supplier Murray Productions Ltd’s manufacturing process, whether they carry out the milling and turning themselves, or whether they need wire erosion work from their sub-contractor. And they know that when they need new machines Edgecam will also be able to drive those with efficiency and ease.

State of the art software has helped deliver a new collapsible snow shovel, designed for motorists to keep in their boot.
With its two-hinged handle, the collapsible shovel is designed and manufactured by plastic moulding experts Senior and Dickson with the help of specialist CADCAM tools from Vero Software.

Whether it's using Edgecam to program complex parts for the medical, military and aerospace markets, or nesting and laser cutting surgical blades with Radan, the software is essential for keeping a precision engineering subcontractor competitive

By Shawn Schultz, OEM Business Development Manager, Wilson Tool International; and Doug Wood, Radan Director of Sales and Service
Engineering subcontractors live or die on their ability to maximise throughput. They need to be nimble enough to meet ever-changing customer needs. Efficiency is everything; the less work-in-process, the better. Any bottleneck or additional setup during bending operations can disrupt part flow, prolong lead-times, and even reduce quality.

Prysmian Cables & Systems is the UK's largest domestic manufacturer of energy and telecommunications cables and systems. Amongst its customers for energy cables is the National Grid, and countries including Saudi Arabia and Singapore. As well as both fluid-filled and dry cables, Prysmian also produces a range of high precision connectors, including a new product which is ahead of most others in the industry: a connector that joins fluid-filled cable to dry cable.

CNC code loaded into Haas mills on old-style 3½” floppy disks and into Kryles through a laptop connected via an RS232 cable, demonstrates Alphacam’s versatility in creating programs for all types of cutting machine.

Atlas Copco Energas GmbH, world leader in generators, compressors and turbo expander technologies, has reached an enviable degree of efficiency in its plant development and construction programs. To get to where it is today, Atlas Copco needed not only a strong corporate vision, but also an outstanding CAD strategy.

Operating in a “niche within a niche” is how the Managing Director of a tool maker and manufacturer of precision scientific instruments – some of which are currently operating in space, one-and-a-half-million kilometres away from Earth – describes his company.

Alphacam is used the world over by engineering subcontractors – but here we take a step back in the supply chain, and look at how the fully integrated software also manufactures the tooling used by those companies. A precision toolmaker says it has “really opened up” the way they work – and they would be taking a backward step if they didn’t have it now.

A total of 117 independent specialists in Planit’s market-leading CNC software, from around the world, attended the company’s annual global resellers conference at Atlanta, Georgia – representing 1,000 years of CAM experience.

Ernst Keller GmbH & Co KG, Arnsberg, produces components for safety belts and door sealing for automotive suppliers. With over 180 employees, the company has been manufacturing forming tools for over 20 years. An increasing portion of the company’s products require complex dies, which have been designed and manufactured by Ernst Keller’s tool making department since 2001.

Nesting capabilities of the world’s most powerful sheet metal CAD/CAM software, Radan, proved so vital for Altex Engineering Ltd that they have created a new role for a shop floor worker dealing almost exclusively with nests.

Early product failures and recalls are costly and result in loss of revenue, litigation, and brand devaluation among others. Hardware recalls are often costlier than software recalls as software patches can be easily downloaded and installed once flaws come to light. Why do recalls and early product failures happen over and over again? Becuase engineering teams are constantly under the gun to improve product performance, reduce form factors, and reduce time to market, all while cutting costs. In order to mitigate risk engineers need to develop a deeper understanding of the product behavior under real operating conditions and quickly evaluate design trade-offs based on overall system behavior. Discover how performing virtual product testing and simulation can help your engineering teams to detect defects early in the design process and anticipate complex real world behavior. Download this e-book

In today’s competitive landscape, a successful marketing presentations is one of the most valuable tools to clearly differentiate product features and benefits to your customers. Anark’s 3D marketing solutions offer a potent communication tool by transforming CAD and other 3D data into visually stunning presentations. This solution is highly effective, cost effective, and easily deployable.

The rapid development of modern 3D CAD systems have facilitated the evolution of product design, and as a result, a move to more organic forms and ever increasing geometry complexity. This paper focuses on product design fundamentals and the impact they have on the manufacturing and production processes.

“The direct modeling approach best aligns with the challenges we face in the custom projects we run, where they tend to be short, with lots of iterations and late customer inputs. And only one package–Creo Elements/Direct–is able to give us what we need.”

Fimer, a family-owned manufacturer of high-tech welding machines needed to update their product line to reflect the advanced inverter-based technology in their machines and drive their company into the 21st century.

White Paper, from EGS India, on use of SigmundWorks and SolidWorks in developing Qualitative Designs for Higher Profitability and Lower Rejections is presented. Emphasis is on the Design process involving Correctness of drawing generation using SolidWorks DimXpert and SigmundWorks for Tolerance Stack Up Analysis.

The pressures of global competition, complex requirements and shorter development schedules are forcing CFD engineers to do more in less time — without sacrificing accuracy.
Accurate results help to prevent over-engineering along with its embedded costs. With high-fidelity CFD results in hand, engineers can design within smaller safety factors, which can ultimately reduce cost of a product or process. Conversely, poor-quality CFD results can lead to incorrect design specifications and increased development time. Accuracy and reliability of fluid flow simulation builds confidence that the solution will operate as intended, allowing shorter design cycles and quicker time to market.

While the world's most powerful sheet metal CAD/CAM software, Radan, has become an integral part of the manufacturing process for a specialist in the metal enclosure industry, they say Radan's technical support and customer service is the real icing on the cake.

GO2came is an open CAM software, for Milling, Turning, Wire-Cut EDM.
GO2cam is specially designed for a mechanic user and is compatible with all the major CADs softwares. GO2cam was developed with an objective of reducing the NC programming, thus to improve the efficiency machining.

Azonix, a leading provider of computers and displays designed for extremely harsh conditions, used FloEFD CAD-embedded CFD software and reduced the number of thermal prototypes needed for its new Terra computer from up to 12 to only 1.

The ability to accurately model welding processes in order to predict residual stresses and distortions is becoming increasingly important in the engineering industry. Abaqus can be used to model the welding process but this has been found to be considerably time consuming and requires a large number of assumptions to be made. Virtual Fabrication Technology is an analysis software suite that is designed to allow Abaqus to accurately model complex welding procedures. It was developed by the Battelle Memorial Institute in conjunction with Caterpillar Incorporated in the USA. The software is centred on a Graphical User Interface that is used to assign welding paths, parameters and material properties to FE models that have been imported from Abaqus/CAE. A closed form analytical thermal solver (CTSP) and advanced user material subroutine (UMAT35) are also included in the package. The final structural analysis of the welded component is carried out using Abaqus/Standard. This paper presents the results of an extensive evaluation of the VFT software package conducted by Rolls-Royce Marine. This was carried out in order to ascertain the capabilities of this software and to determine how it improves on the weld modelling methods currently available using Abaqus stand-alone. This evaluation has shown that VFT significantly enhances the ability of Abaqus to model welding procedures while providing significant savings in both the user and computer time required. A large benefit is seen in the further integration of this software into the Abaqus/CAE package.

These enhancements and updates have been tested and released by the Quality Control Department and will function inside Mastercam X4. Follow the instructions given in the 'info' button of each download for install instructions.

Many satellites orbiting high above the Earth have precision instruments in their payload that were manufactured with Edgecam CNC programs. They include equipment that guides rescuers to disaster survivors...and keeps drivers’ satnav systems functioning.

The reported work presents the simulation model of a conventional external gear pump developed with LMS Imagine.Lab AMESim. External gear pumps are positive displacement machines characterized by a fixed displacement design. This type of machine is employed on aircrafts for the fuel supply of the gas turbine engine. The aviation application represents a challenging demand for the pump since the typical operating conditions belong to the following ranges: flow rate from 10 to 350 L/min generated at angular speeds within 300 and 8000 rpm even though they can overcome 13000 rpm, delivery pressure from 5 to 150 bar and temperature from -50 to +180 °C.

The GoldSim Floating License Manager allows you to use a floating (network) license on a server. The first step in installing and registering a network license is to register the license on a server. (Note that floating licenses require a special Registration Code. You cannot use a standard GoldSim Registration Code for a floating license.) To register a floating license on a server, you must first install the GoldSim Floating License Manager on the server. The manner in which a floating license is configured on the server and client machines is described in detail in Chapter 1 of the GoldSim User’s Guide

Bruce Jenkins, industry-leading expert in engineering, manufacturing, and construction technologies and businesses, explores the results of his extensive research on how leading engineering organizations are moving to 3D direct modeling to support concept engineering, accelerate CAE model preparation, and seed time-to-market with simulation-driven product development. Bruce also explores how SpaceClaim 3D Direct Modeling is leading the way in these trends and empowering engineers like never before.

CEEMO Engineering used EFD.Lab, an easy-to-use general purpose engineering fluid dynamics software from Flomerics Ltd. to test and optimize a new concept car. The entire design optimization process for the 2-seater chassis took about eight weeks despite the design engineer being a novice in the use of fluid analysis software. “I am an aerospace engineer by background but I had never used CFD software so we did an exhaustive search to find the right tool for the design engineer” said Evan van Wolfswinkel, an Engineer at Ceemo. “EFD.Lab offered the best combination of cost effectiveness and ease-of-use for us.

The program KUKA.Verify CNC is used to verify the syntax of CNC files. It's main purpose is to read in CNC files and verify if those files can be used in the product KUKA.CAMRob 2.0. The program does only verify the syntax of the CNC files. Other 'defects' of using the CNC file such as the reacheability of the positions or eventual collisions between spindle and work piece or other collisions are not checked.

One of the UK’s largest sheet metal subcontractors uses the world’s most powerful sheet metal CAD/CAM software to drive a variety of CNC machines across a wide range of cutting technologies. In addition they have also integrated Radan e2i into every aspect of their office system to keep track of, and manage, costs throughout the design and manufacturing process from estimate to invoice.

This build includes the most recent release of CCX 2.3 (32bit and 64bit MT), CGX 2.3, compiled help file, test cases and two CAD translation tools (VDA and ACIS to FBD). It also contains an unmodified version of gnuplot for plotting results data and a custom built SciTE, a text editor which is integrated with the other tools.

Unfortunately we don't have the resources to make postprocessors for all CNC machines in the whole world. Therefore we urge our customers and potential CNC machine suppliers to send us the postprocessors that they may make, then we will place them here for free use. If you have one or more postprocessors that you want to share with others, please zip them and send them to magic@magicsystems.com, and we shall place them here.

The main target of GstarCAD2011 is to significantly enhance the performance and usability of
the software. Brand new Ribbon GUI is more attractive and the layout is more reasonable, giving
user quicker access to functions. The performance of well-used functions are greatly improved,
drawing would be more accurate and smooth. Optimized dimension system provides with more
useful and various dimension styles. The enhancement of 3D function leads a more convenient
way for both definition of 3D coordinate system and transformation from 3D model to 2D
drawings. Compatibility and stability of APIs GRX/VBA/Lisp/VLisp are remarkably enhanced.
Other new functions and improvements such as “Overkill”, “Layer Management”, “Drawing
Comparison” and “Single Line Text Editor” are also implemented in GstarCAD2011.

Photorealistic rendering is the art and science of using computer algorithms to produce images that imitate real-life scenes as realistically as possible.By following these four best practices, engineers can use today’s applications to create more realistic images more quickly.

Icing alters the shape and surface characteristics of aircraft components, which results in altered aerodynamic forces and moments caused by air flow over those iced components. The typical effects of icing are increased drag, reduced stall angle of attack , and reduced maximum lift. In this analysis, the leading-edge and the piccolo type thermal anti-icing bay of an aircraft wing is simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for a range of inlet-temperatures and the flow-rates of the heating fluid.

Pneutronics, a division of Parker Hannifin Corporation (Hollis, NH), engineers and manufactures miniature solenoid valves, miniature diaphragm pumps, and system solutions for critical fluidic applications. The Pneutronics valve product line includes miniature digital, proportional, and multi-media solenoid valves with orifice sizes from .003" to .250”, which are used in a range of medical technologies and analytical instrumentation.

The growing demand for wind energy has greatly
advanced the technologies applied in wind turbine
development over the past decade. But the engineering
of new wind turbines remains a complex and challenging
task, due to the large physical size, the complex
interactions between mechanical and multi-physics
subsystems, and strongly varying wind speeds.

CAE analysts often face the burden of poor quality and over-detailed geometric models in preparing finite element meshing for analysis. However, end users of SpaceClaim Engineer testify that the application is making a valued impact to alleviate these barriers. To surmount those problems, a solution must be able to import an extensive range of CAD model formats found in the industry and also support an intuitive user interface that is easy to learn for non-CAD experts. SpaceClaim boasts a positive record in each case in the opinion of their customers. McCormick Stevenson, an engineering services company, finds that SpaceClaim serves as a great arbiter of geometry and boasts, “anything can be imported.” The broad appeal of SpaceClaim Engineer as a tool for CAE analysts is further touted by Stig Staghøj Knudsen, a naval architect and CFD expert from Ramboll Group A/S in Denmark. For them, SpaceClaim cleans up CAD models in new ways not previously available saving a lot of product development time in the process.

Eifel Incorporated, a 20-man company in Fraser, Michigan, USA, provides automaker Tier One suppliers with fast-turnaround design and engineering services for injection molding based on net-shape machining. President Richard (“Rick”) Hecker looks to scanning and point-cloud-based inspection to help reach ongoing cost reductions of 25% and zero margin for error—“Right First Time” for everything.

SimulationX – the driving force in system simulation – defines the standard of modelling, simulation and optimization of complex technical systems. The software models system components from a multitude of domains including their mutual interaction and feedback on one platform. This clearly distinguishes SimulationX from any other kind of CAE software (FEM, CFD, MBS). SimulationX is the standard in software for evaluating the interaction of all the components used in technical systems. It is the universal CAE tool for modelling, simulation and analysis of physical effects, with ready-to-use model libraries for 1-D mechanics, 3-D multi-body systems, power transmission, hydraulics, pneumatics, thermodynamics, electrics, electrical drives, magnetic as well as controls – post-processing included. More than 500 ready-to-use model elements and over 300 examples of models from eleven application areas simplify and accelerate modelling processes. SimulationX fully supports the Modelica® language and offers a wide range of open, comprehensive CAx interfaces.

Visitors to the Planit stand at Kbb London in May will learn how the latest release of the industry-leading Cabinet Vision software offers cabinet makers even more productivity through automation, at every stage from design through to production.

In this study, carried out by fka, the hood of the VW Golf V is taken as an example to analyze the potential of a hybrid construction of aluminum and steel. Structural stiffness, oil canning and dent resistance behavior are analyzed using Abaqus/Standard. With the objective of reducing the total hood weight, the performance of the hood is compared to reference values of the series production steel hood.
The generated finite element model contains all components of the Golf hood, but most important are the outer and the inner panel, which are designed both in steel and aluminum. Three static load cases are defined to analyze the structural stiffness of the different hood versions. The hood is bended in the lateral and transversal stiffness tests and distorted in the torsional stiffness test. The criterion for all structural tests is the elastic deflection due to the applied load.
The dent load cases cover the analysis of the elastic and plastic buckling behaviour. Two different tests are executed, the examination of the oil canning and the dent resistance. The indenter for the oil canning test is modeled by several single point loads, which are set up circular (corresponding to the indenter’s diameter) in the area of the test locations. The Riks mode is used in this simulation. The hemispherical indenter for the dent resistance test is modeled as an extra component. Due to that contact definitions are required.
The simulated variations show different lightweight potentials. Taking the material costs into account, a first attempt for an improved hood is made.

Geometric dimensioning and tolerancing and represents a way to mathematically describe the size, location, orientation, and form of a
part feature, utiling a special set of symbols to define the relationships between features.

The problem described here concerns the optimization of a seven element antenna with the purpose to improve its radiating performance. The aim of this work is to test the effectiveness of native, true multi-objective optimization techniques, available today in modeFRONTIER®4, a ready-to-use multi-objective environment, directly driving CST MWS, thus taking advantage of some useful interactive postprocessing tools.

Visual Designer is the professional 3D animation and rendering software for fast and impeccable 3D modeling and graphic designing. It not only offers the best automated way to created designs but also reliable training, sound consultation, impressive VIP support and customized plug-ins and developments that make the task a lot easier.

In this whitepaper John Alpine, Spatial VP of R&D, examines the evolution of software development productivity, the point at which ideal productivity is achieved, and what the two major shifts in software productivity will be.

Leading screw press manufacturer De Smet Rosedowns doesn’t need a crystal ball to see where the business is going – it uses the Jobshop advanced production planning and control system. And Using Crystal reporting in conjunction with Jobshop means managers can get fully customised documents for print, email or pdfs – which they say is vital to the efficient running of their business.

Cylindrical tanks are subjected to the seismic loads in certain countries, for example in Japan. The sloshing of these tanks is very important to consider the integrity of the containers. This phenomenon, however, is an interaction of structure and the fluid, namely oil, and is difficult to be analyzed using computer simulation codes. Owing to the FSI capability of Abaqus and Fluent via MpCCI, the phenomenon has been within the range of simulation. Authors tried to analyze the sloshing using the real seismic acceleration at Hachinohe earthquake in Japan and report the result.

Recently Soler & Palau used a novel 3D inverse design software, called TURBOdesign1, by Advanced Design Technology (ADT) of London, England, to develop a new fan design that meet new HVAC efficiency requirements, like those set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Engine Testing Regulations and Europe’s Ecodesign Directive.

In 2005, the company re-evaluated its approach
to inspecting these parts with the object of
finding a more efficient method of gathering and
analyzing dimensional data. Part of that program
was the installation of PolyWorks® 3D metrology
software from InnovMetric Software, a full
featured metrology software that automates and
streamlines many of the operations associated
with gathering and comparing dimensional data
with design intent.

The PolyWorks software is used in conjunction
with a FARO Laser Line probe mounted on a high
precision Faro Platinum Arm. The
hardware/software combination cut inspection
and analysis time in half and reduced the
number of people required for the operation from
four to two. In addition, the manufacturing
group can now operate independently and work a
24-hour per day shift.

2D drafting methods are not able to relay the quality and quantity of design information because 2D methods will always rely on human interpretation or visualization skills to interact with a 2D design. This is always difficult for non design staff and almost impossible for computer systems to extract this kind of information, because computers do not have the ability to interpret.
As a result, many human errors can occur with traditional 2D design methods. In the past problems such as component collisions, incorrect quantities or parts that don't fit, would happen because a designer who works in only 2D is forced to hold much of the information mentally.
Reducing human error by using the 3D modeling design methods minimizes the need for re-work because the design quality is greatly improved. Using 3D design modeling greatly improves design quality because it is a more complete process than 2D design. One most important thing about 3d CAD design is that people can have view of the model from all possible dimensions. It is a highly detailed drawing of what your concept will look like as a finished product.
Whether you're designing a new innovative product, creating technical manuals, or requesting quotes from suppliers, 3D CAD design is extremely powerful. But when a 3D CAD design is transformed into a physical 3D print or job shops’ product prototypes, there is no substitute for the tactile and visual feedback a physical model provides to all participants in the design process.
Mechanical Designers usually share their work space with drafters or other engineering technicians in quiet, well-lighted surroundings separated from production areas. Working from drawings, sketches, planning sheets, and other engineering and shop data, tool designers must visualize the Design, do the panning, document and verify every step of the way.
Because of reductions in defense spending, jobs for mechanical engineering type work will decrease; however, the employment of mechanical engineers is expected to grow about as fast as the average for all occupations through this year due to the demand for new and more complex industrial machinery and tools resulting from the development of more sophisticated automated production processes.
The use of 3D modeling technology is essential when you want to develop a superior product. Such a product will not be influenced by human interpretation. Furthermore, it will look like the final model.

KUKA.SmartGUI is a graphical user interface which can be flexibly adapted to the customer’s individual application requirements. The focus is on simple operation of a complete robotic system, as well as a customized, application-specific, freely configurable user interface

Finite element analysis (FEA) of a composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) has traditionally been a tedious and time consuming task. FEA is often omitted in the development of many vessels in favor of a “build and burst” philosophy based only on preliminary design with netting analysis. This is particularly true for small vessels or vessels that are not weight critical. The primary difficulty in FEA of a COPV is the creation of the model geometry on the sub-ply level. This paper discusses employing a commercially available tool to drastically reduce the time required to build a COPV FEA model. This method produces higher fidelity models in only slightly more time. Analysis results are presented along with comparisons to burst test data. Additionally the application that inspired this tool’s development is discussed.

For a system which involves a fluid medium contained inside a deformable structure, such as a fuel tank system, a simulation which couples the structure and fluid may be required depending on the system performance metric of interest. Simulation methods for fluid / structure interaction (FSI) have been gradually developed by CAE engineers since the advent of increased computing power. A limitation in using previous FSI simulations is the dynamic event time period that the FSI method can simulate. With the new CEL function, Abaqus can simulate a coupled fluid / structure dynamic event of several seconds real-time duration in days instead of weeks as compared to other available software. Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit CEL function can be used to create a seamless fuel tank system simulation method to assess the fuel tank assembly and road loading performance.

Random response analysis is a linear approach, while most real life random vibrations involve nonlinear components. It is challenge to analyze a nonlinear system subjected to random vibration. This paper presents an Abaqus FEA approach on the fatigue life calculation of an automobile assembly with rubber isolators subjected to random vibration. Random loading is categorized using Power Spectral Density (PSD). An equivalent dynamic analysis or a random response analysis was used to obtain the maximum stress level and location from random vibration. A MATLAB routine was used to post process Abaqus PSD response to calculate the stress cycles/peaks and the fatigue damages were estimated. Hyperelastic behavior of the rubber isolator was derived from Abaqus materials module and the corresponding tests. Random vibration test results with the same PSD input were used to tune and verify the FEA model.

Electric Boat’s design process involves evaluating the structural stability of ring-stiffened cylinder structures through finite element analyses to simulate a static pressure load. Each design revision of the cylinders must be evaluated to verify that the structure meets the required stress criteria for the static pressure load; any revision to geometry or material would require the design to be reevaluated. Additionally, it is critical that the weight of the structure is kept as light as possible while still satisfying all stress and deflection criteria. This presentation documents the use of Isight and Abaqus to perform a weight optimization for static pressure loading on a ring-stiffened cylinder, varying geometry and model thicknesses. The use of Isight to run the analysis allows Electric Boat to find an optimized design earlier in the design process.

Prior to implementing CETOL 6 Sigma from Sigmetrix, Phillips Plastics used customized Excel spreadsheets for doing their 1D tolerance stacks, for years. However, as their customers’ designs became more and more complex, they were increasingly asked to perform a higher level of analysis than they could continue to offer with a spreadsheet-based approach.

This section establishes drafting and dimensioning practices pertinent to the preparation of drawings for parts to be fabricated from sheet metal. Additional information is presented to assist the draftsman in establishing proper dimensions for certain features of formed sheet metal parts.

On behalf of CNR ISAC (National Centre for Research) C&C srl utilized FloEFDPro in performing studies on a servo/antenna, part of a meteorological radar system. The Polar 55C is a polarimetric C-band Doppler radar system used for research purposes. The study of this system is a preparatory analysis to the subsequent feasibility study for the technical modernization of the whole system.

AMD Thermal and stress simulations saved time in the development of a new Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) microprocessor by validating thermal design of the chip and special test equipment prior to prototyping. The company used FloTHERM software to model the performance of the semiconductor and test equipment in realistic cooling environments. They also predicted the temperature of the various elements within the package as well as the temperatures and thermal stresses that are applied to test equipment.

The use of additive fabrication processes is what differentiates direct digital manufacturing (DDM) from conventional manufacturing methods, and it is from these technologies that unique advantages and opportunities arise. Direct from 3D digital data, a component is manufactured—layer-by-layer—without machining, molding or casting.

Direct digital manufacturing (DDM) is a new, unique alternative for the production
of end-use items. Having little in common with traditional manufacturing methods,
the uniqueness of DDM changes the decision-making process, overturns old
principles and creates new criteria.

Moline Machinery, of Duluth Minnesota, is in the business of making rotary cutters efficiently for the bakery business. They are one of world leaders in the manufacturing of fryer systems, rotary cutters, make-up lines and sheeting technology.

GoldSim 10.5 includes a major new feature: the Script element.
In some situations, you may wish to define a complex function which can not be readily
implemented using the expression editing features supplied by GoldSim. For example,
calculation of an output may require a very complex logic which would be cumbersome
to represent using a Selector element, or it may require a numerical solution technique
(e.g., iteration); or perhaps you need to construct an array using complex logic.

Due to the limitation of computer capacity and the soften of the material constitution, the nonlinear dynamic earthquake analyses of skyscrapers are not practical in engineer’s desktop, and even in the research area they are still open problems. Utilizing ABAQUS’s unique combination of implicit and explicit technologies and capable of solving large problem efficiently, the author solves the problem elegantly and practically. In the analysis model, all members and shear-walls are modeled by plastic zone model, and large deflection effects are taking into account. Especially, as the shear-walls are divided into element size around 0.7x0.7m, the material and geometry nonlinear buckling behaviors of the shear-walls are modeled almost numerical exact. The main analysis procedures and some key parameters are outlined. The analysis results of some prominent projects in China, such as Shanghai World Financial Center(492m in height), Jinta ( 330m in height) and Guangzhou West Tower(435m in height), are also presented. The analysis results are of great help for the design engineers to study the skyscrapers earthquake performance and therefore design the skyscrapers structure more safety and economically.

From its headquarters in Tamworth, UK, Alcon Components Ltd has been designing and manufacturing advanced brake and clutch products since 1984, when John Moore founded the company to supply brakes for Audi Sport’s Group B Quattro rally cars. Now, the company has a worldwide reputation in the motorsport industry, supplying brake components for the World Rally Championship and, in the US, for NASCAR and IRL teams. Additionally, the company supplies braking equipment for high performance road cars and for special vehicles used in defence applications.

Black & Decker is a global marketer and manufacturer of quality products used in and around the home and for commercial applications. It is the world’s largest producer of power tools and accessories. Its household products business is the U.S. leader and the company is among global competitors in the small household appliance industry.

By developing an overall test strategy, which optimises the uses of simulation, rigs and aircraft test, Airbus has reduced the risks associated with system development, and provided an environment which allows rapid and early assessment of fluid mechanical performance.

Determining the oil temperature operating range of an oil cooled electrical power generator can be a difficult task due to the many parameters that can influence it – such as the variation in power demands and the effectiveness of the oil heat exchanger over its lifetime. However, determining the maximum and minimum oil temperature operating range over a 10 year life cycle is exactly what the engineers at GE Aircraft Engines were asked to do by their airframe customer.

This technical paper highlights the expectations and challenges of data translation and the importance of model repair and validation. Based on a broad suite of test results, this paper can be an invaluable tool in customer engagements to help highlight the true cost of low quality translation.

There is a wealth of evidence that manufacturing jobs are good jobs.1 But not all mamanufacturing jobs are created equal. Published data highlight the considerable variation in pay and productivity across manufacturing industries. For example, workers in the computer and electronic product manufacturing industry earn an average of $34 per hour (as of May 2015), while those in apparel manufacturing earn an average of $17 per hour. Now, thanks to a special tabulation of data from the 2011 Annual Survey of Manufactures (ASM) by the Census Bureau, we can also begin examining differences in the highest- and lowest-paying establishments within the same industry.2
Our special tabulation of ASM data divides manufacturing establishments in two ways. Industries are first categorized at a detailed level (using 4-digit NAICS codes), and then they are divided into four equally sized groups (or quartiles) by payroll per employee.3 The resulting tabulations show payroll per employee, value-added per employee and other output and cost measures for each of the quartiles. This division allows us to see how much wage variation there is between the top- and lowest-paying establishments. The payroll data tells us how much, on average, an establishment is paying all of its employees (including line workers, engineers, and administrators).
The variation in pay across manufacturing establishments is quite high. Across all of manufacturing, the lowest-paying establishments are in the bottom quartile of cut-and-sew apparel manufacturing (NAICS 3152), with an average annual payroll per employee of $15,972. At the opposite end of the spectrum is the top quartile of communications equipment manufacturing (NAICS 3342), with an average annual payroll of $113,070—a variation of over 600 percent. As a point of comparison, average payrolls in communications equipment manufacturing are $97,765, or just 170 percent higher than the overall average for cut-and-sew apparel ($36,085).

The program for bathroom design and tile cover calculation. It will be equally useful for both tile store staff and for people professionally engaged in interior design.
The program ‘Tile’ is intended for creation of graphic images and 3D models of the rooms where walls and the floor can be covered with tile. The program ‘Tile’ allows you to create a 3D model of a room on the given measures with needed door and window openings; select a necessary tile from the catalog, plan design and lay the tile correctly in a bathroom, a toilet, a kitchen and other rooms; place 3D objects; calculate the quantity of needed tile not only for the whole room but also for a separate wall. This program could be also used to demonstrate to your clients how one or another collection of ceramic tiles will look in a certain interior.

Joe Gibbs Racing Engineers determined a tire blowout was caused by an air-duct outlet not adequately cooling the tire. JGR used its Fortus 3D Production System for concept modeling, functional prototyping, and building manufacturing tools. In under 3 days, it had a new duct outlet installed on the car in time for the next race.

“With ESPRIT, you are carrying the sword that can slay any dragon you want, and we went to a high level in a short period of time. It’s so much more powerful than anything else. It’s a huge stride in a new direction that is going to make us more profitable.”

Bird impact damage in complex aircraft structure has been investigated using explicit transient dynamic analysis by Abaqus/Explicit in order to fully employ its large library of elements, material models and the ability of implementing user defined materials. The numerical procedure has been applied on the very detailed large airplane secondary structure consisting of sandwich, composite and metallic structural items that have been modeled with 3D, shell and continuum shell elements, coupled with appropriate kinematic constraints. Bird has been modeled using Coupled Euler Lagrangian approach, in order to avoid the numerical difficulties connected with the mesh. The impact has been applied in the area that is the most probably subjected to the impact damage during the exploitation. The application point and velocity vector have been varied and the comparisons between total, kinetic, internal and damage energies have been performed. Various failure modes, such as CFRP face layer rupture, failure of composite matrix, damage initiation / evolution in the Nomex core and elastoplastic failure of a metallic structure have been investigated. Besides, general contact has been applied as to efficiently capture the contact between impactor and structure, as well as large deformations of the different structural components. Visualization of failure modes has been performed and damaged area compared to the available references. Compared to the classic Lagrangian modeling of the bird, the analysis has proven to be more stable, and the results, such as and damage areas, physically more realistic.

A unified framework is presented that enables coupled multiscale analysis of composite structures and associated graphical pre and post processing within the Abaqus/CAE environment. The recently developed, free, Finite Element Analysis - Micromechanics Analysis Code (FEAMAC) software couples NASA's Micromechanics Analysis Code with Generalized Method of Cells (MAC/GMC) with Abaqus/Standard and /Explicit to perform micromechanics based FEA such that the nonlinear composite material response at each integration point is modeled at each increment by MAC/GMC. The Graphical User Interfaces (FEAMAC-Pre and FEAMAC-Post), developed through collaboration between SIMULIA Erie and NASA Glenn Research Center, enable users to employ a new FEAMAC module within Abaqus/CAE that provides access to the composite microscale. FEAMAC-Pre is used to define and store constituent material properties, set up and store composite repeating unit cells, and assign composite materials as sections with all data being stored within the CAE database. Likewise FEAMAC-Post enables multiscale field quantity visualization (contour plots, X-Y plots), with point and click access to the microscale (i.e., fiber and matrix fields).

Typically thermo-mechanical analysis including complexities such as contacts and bolt preloads are carried out using three dimensional models. These analyses require significant time and effort in FE model building, analysis setup, solution, and results processing. It also requires special effort to ensure it is error free.
In order to get stable and accurate results element size and time step selection is very important in transient analysis. These aspects are discussed in this paper.
This paper also talks about simplified yet almost equally accurate modeling and analysis method for thermo-mechanical analysis using brake fade test simulation as an example. This methodology is based on use of Abaqus/Standard Axisymmetric analysis technique modified to represent effect of discrete bolting, bolt preloads, and contacts within various components of the assembly.
Analysis results as well as analysis turnaround times are compared between this new method and the conventional method. Up to 80% time can be saved with significant improvement in the accuracy of the results.

Nonlinear analysis using Riks method is suitable for predicting buckling, post-buckling, or collapse of certain types of structures, materials, or loading conditions, where linear or eigenvalue method will become inadequate or incapable, especially when nonlinear material, such as plasticity, is present, or post-buckling behavior is of interest. These structures usually undergo finite deformations due to complicated loadings or material plasticity before buckling actually occurs, which changes system matrices, and thus, makes the eigenvalue analysis inaccurate, difficult, or even impossible to perform. This study intends to demonstrate the use of Riks method in the nonlinear analysis of buckling and post-buckling behaviors of a flexible structure under bending and compressive loads. The null-point on load-displacement curve is used as criteria for the onsite of instability. The predicted results from finite element analysis compare well with testing data.

Seismic response of liquid storage tank floating roofs involve phenomena that require dynamic nonlinear geometric and material behavior as well as surface to surface contact. Good engineering practice requires a practical analytical approach that captures the essential ingredients of structural behavior under earthquake excitation by making reasonable, conservative, and manageable approximations to the actual conditions. This paper discusses an approach used in Abaqus to calculate the stresses and deformations of a liquid storage tank floating roof under seismic loading. It represents a novel application of contact theory to achieve a solution to this problem. The method is validated by a fully coupled fluid-structure interaction (FSI) finite element analysis using actual earthquake ground accelerations. The method is supported by both the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ).

Analysis methodologies developed for evaluating three threaded and coupled connectors quantitatively are presented. Two new non-dimensional parameters for assessing the seal leakage and load shoulder separation are introduced for the purpose. Stress Amplification Factor (SAF), defined in API Specification 16R, is scrutinized for what type of stress is to be used and which reference point the alternating stress is measured from. As a result of it, loading sequence Mean Tension with Two Alternating Moments (MT2AM) is proposed for SAF calculation.

Each year companies spend millions of dollars for developing new products with high quality and reliability. Highly reliable products require longer test times to verify, and usually takes a few iteration of design-test-fix cycle. Development time can be minimized by (1) doing accelerated testing (ALT) and (2) reducing the design-test-fix cycle by developing methods to predict and test for reliability in simulation environment. Finite element modeling and analysis provides an excellent alternative in evaluating designs to improve on reliability. In this paper, a probabilistic simulation methodology is proposed using a combination of simulation modeling and statistical techniques to predict and improve the drop reliability of a product under repeated random loading. Two examples are illustrated involving two failure modes in two different products a screw pull out and a magnesium housing cracking. Explicit dynamic finite element phone drop simulations were performed in Abaqus to predict the forces in the screw and the principal tensile stress on the housing for various simulation parameters. DOE and Response surface modeling was used to develop regression equations for stress as a function of drop angle. Using the statistical techniques, a probabilistic model was developed by combining the RSM model & statistical distribution of drop angle, to estimate the distribution of the stress. In conjunction, strength degradation models were developed to reflect the housing degradation with each impact. Finally, Monte Carlo Simulations are used in conjunction with the stress-strength interference theorem to predict product reliability. In conclusion, a powerful and practical methodology is proposed that integrates the FEA with statistical methods to predict up front, the reliability of a product.

Auxetic materials have a negative Poisson's ratio, therefore they expand in all directions when stretched. High-resolution 3D scan data of auxetic foam was obtained from the synchrotron facilities at the University of Washington. The data was automatically segmented and meshed using ScanIP and +ScanFE software. The simulations were performed using Abaqus, Fluent and LS-Dyna.

Optimal Adept Application Server requirements and recommendations will depend on your scope and use of Adept. In many cases, it will be optimal for the SQL Database Engine and the Adept Application Server Software to run on the same server. If this is the case for your deployment, please refer to the section of this document “Recommended Server Hardware Requirements”.

DynMcDermott Petroleum Operations Company, a Department of Energy prime contractor responsible for managing the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, realized it needed better information technology to manage the many thousands of documents it produces annually.

Global economic pressure is eroding margins and profit. Not only do manufacturers have to compete with companies on the other side of the world, but the total requirement for manufactured goods has recently dropped significantly. Furthermore, OEMs are
frequently demanding regular and ongoing price reductions.

In production plants across the globe, lean manufacturing techniques are being utilized to meet increasing demands placed on manufacturers. Buyers now require quicker turnaround, better service, and higher quality – all at a competitive price. Originally developed as a methodology to make production processes highly efficient, lean manufacturing techniques have been adopted by more than 72% of machine shops across the country.

Sefea is one of the newest generations of enriched finite element methods. This white paper explains how Sefea:KeyCreator Analysis with Sefea Technology
was developed specifically for low-order 4-node tetrahedron and 3-node triangle in the CAE environment,
achieves the accuracy of 2nd-order elements such as 10-node tetrahedron at the low-order element computing cost and robustness without the 2nd-order element side-node noise.
can withstand user abuse with tolerance for mesh density variation and distortion, which commonly occur in an automatic tetrahedron mesh generator in CAE.
and how Sefea's unified enrichment method is suitable for fully coupled stress, thermal, fluid, and EM physics in an integrated multiphysics formulation.
Read to discover how Sefea can solve more realistic problems that were not feasible in the past, as well as see illustrations of the three of the most valuable characteristics of Sefea in CAE applications:
Achieving 2nd-order element accuracy while using easily generated first order tetrahedral elements.
The ability to use finer mesh without exponentially increasing computing cost, as is often needed in many nonlinear heterogeneous problems, and
Robustness without the risks of higher-order element side-node mesh distortion and noise.

The CompositePost Toolbar, offered within μETA post-processor of BETA CAE Systems S.A., is an automated tool for the post-processing of results deriving from the analysis of products from laminated composites.

Autodesk is giving their subscription customers the option to download their product from their subscription site or to receive it by box. This tech tip will give you steps on how to change your setting from download to receive a box.

14 unique component designs and 32 total components in each new Stratasys Fortus 900mc are being produced via direct digital manufacturing.
Many manufacturers build products in the 10s, 100s, or low 1,000s. In these cases, producing parts with injection molding is often not a wise choice due to the high cost of tooling. With an additive fabrication system, manufacturers can eliminate tooling, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars for a single component or hundreds of thousands of dollars or more for a single project.

Direct digital manufacturing (DDM) is being applied in a diverse range of industries.
Examples of DDM success are found in aerospace, automotive, consumer
products, electronics and defense. Each of these industries, and many others, has
applied DDM, and each will continue to see an increase in the number of DDM
applications.

An automatic design algorithm for parametric shape
optimization of three-dimensional cooling passages inside axial
gas turbine blades has been developed. A robust
semi-stochastic constrained optimizer (IOSO) and a parallel genetic
algorithm were used to solve this problem while running on an
inexpensive distributed memory parallel computer.

The paper presents the results of optimizing a three-stage
axial compressor. The optimization goal was to improve the
compressor efficiency at two flight conditions by optimizing
geometry of the 5 compressor rows (62 design parameters).

This article demonstrates the main capabilities of IOSO (Indirect Optimization based on
Self-organization) technology algorithms, tools, and software, which can be used for the
optimization of complex systems and objects. IOSO algorithms have higher efficiency, provide
a wider range of capabilities, and are practically insensitive with respect to the types of objective
function and constraints.

Electronic redaction is a relatively simple process. Why then, have so many agencies and companies—including Whole Foods, SCO, the U.S. military (repeatedly), law firms and, most recently, Facebook—released improperly redacted documents that landed them in scandalous headlines?

Pratt & Whitney, a unit of United
Technologies Corporation, is a leader in the
design, manufacture and support of
dependable engines for commercial,
military and general aviation aircraft, and
space propulsion systems.

As a result of implementing Windchill, Humax has completely transformed its PDM and product development processes, particularly since their 3D CAD data (Pro/ENGINEER) is now being managed in a powerful PDM solution.

This bi-annual magazine provides a rich source for learning new trends in engineering simulation innovation. Inside each issue you will learn from industry leaders driven to deliver new and innovative products to market, and their real life experiences using CAE to get them there faster. Obtain rich and relevant technical content, read useful tips for applying the tools in your daily jobs, and witness first-hand how others are expanding the boundaries of engineering simulation to deliver certainty to their customers.

Encompassing design, manufacture and production control for all sheet metal components and products, Radan 2011 R2 has gained full certification from Autodesk for use with its Inventor 2012 CAD software.

A novel finite element based topology optimization scheme has been developed and implemented through the use of Abaqus user subroutines. The procedure is based on an iterative material redistribution scheme in which the desired material distribution at each iteration is imposed. A family of Beta probability density functions is utilized to provide a gradual transition from an initial unimodal material density distribution to a bimodal distribution of fully dense and essentially void regions. The efficiency and validity of the scheme is demonstrated through a number of 2-D and 3-D test cases for which the optimal topology is known from analytic optimality criteria. These test cases include classical minimum weight Michell structures as well as newly derived optimal topologies for 3-D structures. The described method is the subject of international patent application number PCT/US2006/062302.
To visualize the converged finite element results, procedures are developed to convert the final bimodal material distribution data into contour surfaces of constant density. These contours are then saved in a standardized CAD format (STL) that are imported into commercial CAD software. The CAD models are used directly in rapid manufacturing equipment for the production of prototype parts. Physical prototypes of optimized structures have been manufactured using Laser Engineered Net-Shaping™ (LENS®) and Dimension SST 3D-Printing. In addition to the test cases for which optimal topologies are known from analytic optimality criteria, application of the method to the design of an aerospace component will be presented.

The connected structure refers to the kind of building which is composed of two or more towers connected by the connecting body in a certain height, belonging to the irregular building structure system. According to “Technical Specification for Concrete Structures of Tall Building” (JGJ3-2002), the time-history analysis method should be adopted in the seismic analysis of the connected structure. The structure may have a larger plastic deformation under rare earthquake, so it is difficult to converge when the implicit solution method is used by the conventional finite element software. While the explicit integral technology provided by ABAQUS can solve the nonlinear dynamics problems better, it has a broader application in elastic-plastic dynamic analysis. Taking a specific project as an object, the application of ABAQUS in seismic analysis of connected structures is presented in detail in this paper.

Abaqus is often applied to solve geomechanical boundary value problems. Several Abaqus built-in features enable a wide range of simulating such problems. For complex problems Abaqus can be extended via user subroutines. Several extensions for soil mechanics purposes are discussed and corresponding case studies are presented.

There are plans of constructing bridges longer span like Messina strait bridge. This trend causes the necessity of discussing on the problems of instability analysis such as lateraltorsional buckling. However, lateral torsional buckling analysis of long span bridge is not sufficiently taken yet. For that reason, we apply the Abaqus/Standard to solve the high nonlinear problem. The analysis object is Akashi-kaikyo Bridge which is the longest bridge in the world. This paper presents how to analyze the lateral-torsional buckling of long span bridge applying wind load.

Mine scale finite element simulations are now a key design and planning tool for some of the world’s largest and most challenging open pit and deep underground mining projects. Models with more than ten million degrees of freedom are regularly used for forecasting and probabilistic analysis of Life-of-Mine scenarios. These simulations, sometimes analysing decades of the extraction and continuing deformation of complex infrastructure, are run in less than a day on the Abaqus/Explicit parallel solver using 32 CPUs. The speed and benefits of high-similitude analysis has allowed Abaqus simulation to become more commonplace, and in some cases to be considered a requirement for sufficient analysis of high-value mine developments.
The next phase of improved simulation for mines will involve the incorporation of more detail and a more accurate representation of the governing physics of continuum-discontinuum problems, to attain improved similitude at all length scales. Two areas where significant improvements are expected in the very short term are in the simulation of the loads in masses of granular materials and in the behavior of elementary volumes of fractured rock.

MAHLE Powertrain (MPT) is constantly exploring new ways to improve the efficiency and performance of engines to meet the demanding objectives Automotive OEM’s are faced with today, i.e. to reduce fuel consumption and emissions. MPT’s key expertise lies in the development of high performance engines with low emissions and excellent fuel economy through the optimisation of gas exchange, combustion, friction and durability.
This strategy is being demonstrated by the development of MAHLE’s own state of the art threecylinder 1.2-litre downsizing technology demonstrator engine which has been designed, built and tested at Northampton in the UK.
One of the objectives of the project was to design a compact engine with high specific power output by using a turbo charger combined with state of the art direct injection technology and variable valve timing. This ensures that vehicle performance targets can be met using the smallest capacity engine thus minimising throttling losses which otherwise leads to high fuel consumption.
With such a high specific power output predictive analysis has played a key role in guiding, validating and optimising the design. This paper highlights the use of Abaqus to perform structural analysis of the main engine: connecting rod, crankshaft and cylinder block bottom end as well as thermo-mechanical analyses of the head and block assembly and exhaust manifolds.

A finite element (FE) model of the human foot and ankle was developed from 3D reconstruction of 2 mm coronal MR images from the right foot of a normal male subject using the segmentation software, Mimics. Solid models of 28 foot bones and encapsulated soft tissue structures models established in Solidworks software were imported into ABAQUS for creating
the tetrahedral FE meshes. The plantar fascia and 72 ligaments were defined by connecting the corresponding attachment points on the bones using tension-only truss elements. Contact interactions among the major joints were prescribed to allow relative bone movements. A foot support was used to establish the frictional contact interaction between the foot-support
interfaces. The contour of the arch-supporting foot orthoses was obtained from digitization of the subject’s foot via a 3D laser scanner. Algorithms were established in Matlab software to create surface models from the digitized foot surface. Solid model of the foot orthoses established in the Solidworks software was properly partitioned in ABAQUS for creating the hexahedral FE meshes. The encapsulated soft tissue and orthotic material were defined as hyperelastic while other tissues
were idealized as homogeneous, isotropic and linearly elastic. The ground reaction and extrinsic muscles forces for simulating the stance phase of gait were applied at the inferior ground support and at their corresponding points of insertion by defining contraction forces via axial connector elements, respectively. The FE predictions are being validated by experimental measurements conducted on cadavers and on the same subject who volunteered for the MR scanning.

When computer generated imagery (CGI) first started to appear on movie and video game screens, the emphasis was to make something look close enough to its real counterpart to satisfy audiences. As graphics and computing capability progressed, audiences became less satisfied with “cartoon-like” animation; they demanded more realistic visuals. The entertainment
industry reached across the aisle to the scientific community in attempt to incorporate more physical realism into animations. As a result, today’s physics- based CGI can fool even a scrutinizing scientist into believing what he’s seeing is real.
While the entertainment industry profited by collaborating with the scientific community, the benefit is mutual. For example, in order to study the fit performance of a dust mask with facial movement, we borrow a CGI technique to make simulation feasible. Specifically, the complex and intricate movements of the face are represented using a high resolution motion capture technique. Similarity between motion capture and finite element data forms allows their interchangeability.
In this study, detailed motion capture data of real facial movement was interpreted to produce a finite element model (node and element definitions) along with a time history of nodal displacements. The finite element data was stored as an Abaqus output database and subsequently used as a global model to drive a similar facial submodel to evaluate the fit and sealing performance of a pouch style face mask design under realistic use conditions. This paper outlines the analysis approach and shows results from the simulation.

This study concerns simulation of the forming process of a carton-based package for liquid food (for example, milk or juice), and how the packaging material interacts with the fluid during the forming. The carton-based package is formed inside a filling machine while the fluid is being filled into the package. The carton-based package is thin with low bending stiffness and is thus deformed significantly at small loading. This implies that the forming of the package to a
large extent depends on the dynamics of the fluid inside the package. In the filling machine, the filling pipe enters the tube where the carton-based web is partly shaped into a longitudinally sealed tube. The package is formed and transversally sealed below the fluid surface. When forming the transversal seal of the package, the cross-section of the tube changes from open circular to closed in a short period of time, which causes considerable pressure waves inside the package. In order to control the pressure waves and thereby the forming of the package, a pressure flange is mounted on the filling pipe inside the carton-based tube. A coupled Eulerian- Lagrangian approach in Abaqus/Explicit is used in order to study both the deformation of the packaging material and the fluid and the interaction between them entirely within a single finite element model.

Thermoelastic stress analysis (TSA) is a non-destructive method that is used to assess structural stress. It is based on the ability to measure stress induced thermal emissions during cyclic loading with an infrared camera. It has potential applications for the monitoring of wind turbine blades certification tests. In this work, conducted as part of the UK SuperGen Wind consortium, finite element (FE) analyses are conducted to evaluate the potential correlation with TSA outputs. Such correlation of FE and TSA for composite blade structures is key for the interpretation of TSA results and thus for the application of thermoelasticity to wind turbine blades. A flexible parametric structural model for wind turbine blades is presented, based on a Python script and the ABAQUS solver. Typical wind turbine blade geometry, which can be tailored by the user, enables the generation of a regular mapped mesh. The application of industry standard materials and layups is also enabled, as well as various loading types. It is then shown through a particular case study using a 4.5m long blade that the main characteristic stresses of the loaded structure are reasonably well represented by both the FE and
TSA techniques and that some manufacturing defects can be detected at an early stage by TSA measurements. This is encouraging and suggests that the use of TSA should be pursued by the wind energy sector.

With the trend towards miniaturization and multi-functionality in products such as mobile electronic devices, miniature IC packaging such as fine pitch Ball Grid Array (BGA) package and Chip Size Package (CSP) are increasingly being used. However, the inherent vulnerability of these miniature IC packagings has brought along new reliability problems. Among them, the drop/impact robustness is the most challenging in terms of testing and designing. The minute solder interconnections used to attach these packages to the printed wire board (PWB), in particular, are very vulnerable to drop
impact loads, which mobile electronic equipment is reasonably expected to experience during usage.
A major challenge facing the IC package supplier is the ability to assess the reliability of the interconnection when assembled into a product that can take many forms and shape. The Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) is proposing a standardised methodology using a board level drop impact test. However, correlation between the board level drop impact test and the actual product drop remains unclear. This can be best understood through modelling and simulation using Finite Element Analysis techniques.
In this paper initial results are presented of work carried out using ABAQUS Finite Element Analysis software to model the board level drop impact test and hence determine the stress and strain state in the solder joint. The modelling work was divided into two stages: Dynamic modelling of the impact of the complete board assembly using beam and shell elements, followed by submodelling of the minute solder joints using solid elements. The model was subsequently validated against a fine mesh full dynamic model, the analysis time for this model was almost two days. The submodel approach allowed a full global and local simulation to be completed in less than 4 hours, all models being analysed on an Intel Pentium 4 at 1.8Ghz.
Due to the substantially reduced runtime of the validated submodel it may be of great benefit for conducting parametric studies that would aid in the design of board level tests that best simulate the drop impact tests. This modelling technique will also accelerate the development of models to simulate drop tests on production components.

The fluid-structure interaction (FSI) and thermal stress evolution (TSE) models are completely new modules in Version 10.0 of FLOW-3D. The approach used for these is unlike any other module in FLOW-3D; the original structured finite-difference mesh used for the fluid and heat transfer computations is not used. Rather, a conforming and structured finite element (FE) mesh is used. This is because performing solid mechanical computations is far more convenient and accurate with a conforming FE mesh than with a nonconforming finite difference mesh. The two meshes are completely coupled during each time step, transferring information about the surface deformations to the fluid mesh, and pressure and temperature changes to the solid (FE) mesh.

Barcodes are a common sight on consumer products. Almost every retail transaction in North America is driven by the scanning, recognition and lookup of barcode data. But did you know you can also add barcodes to the forms your organization creates? Doing so gives the scanned image a readily identifiable key (a patient, client or customer id), which allows for easy storage and retrieval in a database or content management system. Using a barcode to associate a scanned image with a unique key is called automatic indexing (or "auto-indexing") of documents. Auto-indexing is enabled by an easy to use, read-write Barcode SDK, such as
Barcode Xpress from Accusoft Pegasus.

With each engineer saving an average of two hours per day and reducing the time it takes to access drawings and other technical documents from 30 to 5 minutes, it's easy to see why the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command chose Auto-trol™.

The use of short cutters is a key feature of 5-axis machining. It significantly reduces the deflection of the tool, results in a better surface quality, prevents reworking and reduces immensely the number of
electrode erosions. At the same time there are increasing requirements placed on CAM systems. Collision control and collision avoidance in particular are complex and time consuming tasks.

During the second half of 2010, the engineers at Cummins Jamestown Engine Plant (JEP) in Lakewood, NY were in a state of transition with regards to their ANSYS FEA simulation software and the computers on which the ANSYS software resides. A corporate-wide initiative had brought in new computers meaning that JEP had its hands full doing software installs, including ANSYS. To compound the problem, JEP had not been keeping up with the ANSYS release cycle, meaning that they were several releases behind the then current release.

GSK Precision specializes in manufacturing precise automotive products such as mechanical motors, transmission gear parts and engine control unit boxes. The company is part of the GSK Group Ltd., the largest automotive component manufacturer in Taiwan.

Moving from conventional
visualization tools to
knowledge-based design
Several years ago, Joe MacDonald,
founder of Urban A&O architects in
New York City, was awarded a grant by
Harvard University Graduate School of
Design to study architectural patterns
based on a single cell repeated in a
non-recursive manner, meaning that
each repetition is different.

A small electrical installation company with 20 employees, needed to find a better, faster, less expensive way to create fitting instructions for electric outlets, electric wiring and alarm systems on existing drawings.

UDLP-GSD contracted with IDEAL to implement a browser-based, platform independent interface to provide company-wide access to CAD drawings and scanned legacy drawings. The contract required making use of the design, configuration management, database and networking tools UDLP-GSD already had in place.

Direct digital manufacturing (DDM) can be diffi cult to characterize because it does
not fi t neatly into previously established categories built around conventional
manufacturing processes. Due to its unique processing capacities and innovative
advantages, it can be a challenge to easily identify target applications for DDM.
Therefore, it is vital to understand how to recognize the opportunities.

AutoFEM Analysis is a system of finite-element analysis which is integrated into 3D environment of AutoCAD 2007-2010. Allows calculate various types of problems: static, frequency, buckling and thermal analysis.

Siemens, a worldwide leader in power plant turbines, investigate laser scanning to monitor the production quality of casting blades. Non-contact verification of blade geometry and alignment guarantees premium economy and long life in harsh turbine operating conditions. Powerful 3D scanning technology accurately captures the aerofoil surfaces of the blades as well as their fine alignment notches. A single mouse click triggers the automatic geometry verification process that provides detailed insight on the basis of graphic part-to-CAD comparison. LC50 laser scanning and Focus point cloud processing are the cornerstones of a much faster and operator-independent digital inspection process.

The automaker's Vehicle Measurement Lab scans car bodies, interiors, and clay prototypes to support the design process. The resulting coordinate data is imported into a CAD system and converted into surfaces. Previous scanning devices-a coordinate measuring machine (CMM) and a mechanical digitizer-captured relatively few coordinate locations, making the construction of surfaces very labor-intensive. By switching to a laser scanner, the lab now captures millions of x, y, z coordinates quickly, giving designers a thorough definition of an object's shape and making the job of constructing surfaces go much faster.

The free downloadable Focus Inspection Viewer enables users to share inspection results and reports with colleagues, management and suppliers. The original Focus Inspection results can be interpreted by rotating and zooming on global deviation maps, cross-sections and feature comparisons.

One of the greatest burdens of crash/safety simulation pre-processing is the fast and accurate positioning and articulation of kinematic mechanisms. Such mechanisms can be the occupant seat, the crash-test dummy, the seat with the dummy positioned on it, suspensions, rooftops, hoods etc

Black & Decker is a world leading name in DIY products used in and around the home. The company’s Global Design Centre in Spennymoor, County Durham is using the Dimension 3D Printer from Stratasys to dramatically speed up product development time.

Anderson Power Products® is an industry leader in the design and manufacture of high power interconnects and accessories. Founded in 1877, the company is headquartered in Sterling, Massachusetts, with offices in Ireland, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Anderson Power Products (APP) originally manufactured products to support the mining and railway industries. Today, as a result of innovative design and development, APP has evolved into a valued and unique supplier to a wide variety of industrial markets.

Techniform Inc. has been providing metal shaping and stretching solutions for aerospace,architectural, automotive, and industrial markets since 1989. Techniform is highly regarded as the leader in stretch-form technology but it doesn’t stop there. The company also specializes in hydro-forming, roll forming, break forming, and many other types of
specialty forming and contouring of all types of ferrous and non-ferrous metals. Techniform is also emerging as the industry leader providing fabrication, 5-axis machining, cnc routing,
welding, thermal processing, assembly and kitting services. Techniform has the largest privately held inventory of stretch forming equipment in the world, with over a quarter of a million feet of manufacturing space.

The tremendous economic pressure on our clients requires them to focus on their core business. For projects and tasks that are essential in the support of their business, LMS has a team of professionals with expertise in a variety of domains. LMS consultants can support or take full responsibility for the LMS system management and maintenance. Through frequent on-site visits, they deploy software updates and maintain the installed base of LMS software and hardware products. They diagnose and resolve operational issues, if necessary with the support of the extensive LMS support and development organization. The net result: a systems network that is operational around the clock and an engineering team that can focus on its core development task.

MC Lights and Manufacturing Ltd. specialize in the manufacture and supply of Lights to the entertainment industry. Our sister company, MC Laser Werks Inc., provides a full range of laser cutting, welding and forming.
After evaluating a number of CAD/CAM and MRP solutions, it was decided to purchase the Lantek Expert range of software.

TracePro is a comprehensive, versatile software tool for modeling the propagation of light in imaging and non-imaging opto-mechanical systems. Models are created by importing from a lens design program or a Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) program or by directly creating the solid geometry in TracePro. Optical properties are assigned to materials and surfaces in the model. Source rays propagate through the model with portions of the flux of each ray allocated for absorption, specular reflection and transmission, fluorescence and scatter. From the model, ray trace, and analyze

The selection methodology used in CES Materials can be encapsulated by developing a case study. Here, we will use the design of a simple table to illustrate the development of some selection criteria, we will apply them and plot them on some selection stages by using CES.

Edgecam, the market-leading CAM software developer for the engineering industry, is again sponsoring an exhibition team which highlights the ongoing restoration of the renowned paddle steamer Medway Queen. Team leader Richard Halton says: “Edgecam is the perfect partner to help the Medway Queen Preservation Society promote the miracle that is Medway Queen, to a wide audience. Edgecam represents the best of the modern engineering industry, sponsoring the best of old engineering techniques.”

A software tool for automated crack onset and growth simulations based on the eXtended Finite Element Method (X-FEM) has been developed. For the first time, this tool is able to simulate arbitrary crack growth and composite delamination without remeshing. The automated tool is integrated with Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/CAE via the customization interfaces. It seamlessly works with the Commercial, Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Abaqus suite. Its unique features include: 1) CAE-based insertion of 2D or 3D multiple cracks with arbitrary shape of crack front independent of an existing mesh; 2) simulation of crack growth inside or between solid elements, and potentially along a shell/solid interface or along a shell/shell interface; 3) simulation of non self-similar crack growth along an arbitrary path or a user-specified interface; 4) extraction of near tip strain energy release rates via the modified VCCT; and 5) CAE-based data processing and visualization. The levelset method coupled with X-FEM is used to enrich the displacement field with jump and asymptotic near-tip solutions and track the crack geometry as it grows. A penalty-based formulation is developed within the UEL framework to simulate crack closure and frictional contact. To account for energy dissipation associated with the frictional contact, a modified VCCT approach is employed for an arbitrary crack front element with a partial contact zone. A fracture front tracking and levelset update module is used for either a user-specified growth size or a Paris-type fatigue law. Both the validity and applicability of the toolkit have been demonstrated via numerical examples.

In dynamic analysis of NPP civil structures the most suitable method proved to be the method of direct integration of equations of motion of the structure-soil system. This method takes account of geometrically nonlinear effects and dashpots with high level of attenuation. In addition, this method allows for receiving a highly effective solution for some types of NPP civil structures. However, the analysis of resultant response spectra has showed a high level of spectral accelerations at elevations of equipment arrangement. One of the main reasons of such result is in a high degree of conservatism, which provides for usage of the Rayleigh damping in material as compared with modal damping. This study describes an approach allowing to receive an improved damping matrix as a Caughey series that brings to diminishing conservatism when defining a dynamic reaction in the system. The study investigates influence of a number of the Caughey series terms to be accounted when defining the improved damping matrix. As a result, there are given also the floor response spectra for a real building considering damping in material as a Caughey series. The dynamic analysis has been implemented within Abaqus software frames.

During the BIW concept developing phase, some key design variables, such as rails and pillars width and position, shell thickness, etc, and multi-attribute responses from safety, NVH, and durability are considered to explore the design space. Isight DOE design drive is used to assess the impact of the variables on the objectives, and this helps the engineer to better understand the design space and give design recommendation. Approximations component is used sequentially to create fast-running surrogate models to replace the real CAE simulations. Finally, the Optimization tool is used to perform a trade-off study, and this helps engineer to know what is the minimum cost for the design to meet all design targets, or when the BIW weight is fixed, what is the potential maximum design performance.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigates accidents to identify the probable cause and to make recommendations that would prevent similar accidents. Following the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis on August 1, 2007, the NTSB worked with the Federal Highway Administration, the Minnesota Department of Transportation and other parties with information and expertise, including SIMULIA Central, to determine the circumstances that contributed to the collapse of the bridge, completing the investigation in 15 months. The NTSB concluded that the collapse of the bridge was caused by the inadequate load capacity of gusset plates used to connect the truss members, as a result of an error by the bridge design firm, Sver-drup & Parcel and Associates, Inc. The loading conditions included a combination of (1) substan-tial increases in the weight of the bridge caused by previous bridge modifications, and (2) the traf-fic and concentrated construction loads on the bridge on the day of the collapse. Evidence from the collapsed bridge structure, engineering evaluations of the design, and results from the finite element analyses used to support the investigation are reviewed.

Automotive vehicles undergo various ranges of road loads according to the driving conditions. Sometimes it experiences unusually large overload such as pot-hole impact or curb strike whose forces are several times of the vehicle weight. Those overloads may induce plastic deformations at some components and these plastic deformations reduce the fatigue life of the components. In some cases, the fatigue crack initiation points may be changed due to the residual stresses which were generated by the overloads. Predicting the fatigue life by general fatigue analysis methodology, which uses linear stress analysis results and linear damage accumulation rule, is very difficult if any component contains residual stresses. This study was performed to assess the effects of overload on the fatigue behavior of automotive suspension components and to develop a fatigue analysis methodology predicting the fatigue life under overload. Fatigue tests were performed for aluminum knuckle with the application of single overload whose magnitude is large enough to generate plastic deformations on the knuckle. The fatigue life of knuckle was reduced and crack initiation points were changed after applying single overload. Those phenomena could not be predicted by adopting linear stress analysis and Miner’s linear damage accumulation rule. By using non-linear stress analysis results and considering residual stress, it was satisfactory to predict the reduction of fatigue life and change of crack initiation points.

Hybrid III dummies are among the most frequently used dummies in both industry and academia for vehicle crash safety. Abaqus is one of most widely applied finite element codes in the world. To meet the needs of crash safety analysis and to exploit the potential of the Abaqus/Explicit code, a family of HIII dummies, including HII 50th male, 5th female and 95th male dummies, were developed at FTSS in collaboration with Simulia and BMW. This paper describes in detail the development of the HIII dummies with specific reference to the HIII 50th dummy. Firstly correct material models based on material test data are verified. Secondly variety of FTSS standard (certification-based) and non-standard finite element validation tests at component level, i.e. head drop, neck pendulum, lumbar spine, knee slider, knee impact and single rib tests, and at full dummy level, such as thorax pendulum, sled seatbelt and sled airbag tests, were accomplished. In addition, a suite of extra test, developed by the Partnership for Dummy Technology and Biomechanics (PDB), was integrated into the dummy development to enhance the fidelity and robustness of the dummy performances. Those tests include head impact (forehead and cheek), thorax impacts, tibia tests and foot and shoe tests. Based on these series of stringent validation tests, a family of HIII dummies have been successfully developed, which greatly facilitates virtual vehicle development and design process of the occupant safety in the automotive industry.

A finite element model is developed to investigate the instantaneous as well as long-term (time-dependant) structural response of a pre-loaded torsional spring. Torsional springs belong to a class of spiral springs that are commonly made out of Elgiloy - an alloy of Cobalt, Chromium, Nickel and Iron. Elgiloy has very high yield strength, and is commonly used as a spring material in clocks. The research involves development of a detailed component-level model, using Abaqus/Standard, to investigate the instantaneous static moment-rotation response, and the long-term stress relaxation response of the spring system, along with, understanding the sensitivity of this response on the various design parameters. Frictional self contact, large deformation and nonlinear material behavior (plasticity and creep) are among the major challenges in solving this problem. The modeling effort also involves understanding the experimentally-observed hysteresis associated with the cyclic moment versus rotation response, and development of simple analytical models which can approximately describe the structural response of a typical torsional spring system with varying parameters.

The use of expandable tubulars has emerged as a popular technology for drilling and completing wells. While expandable tubulars vary in type depending upon the application and specific well requirements, the most common approach is to actually form the metals downhole, which presents unprecedented challenges for tool designers. The costs and timelines to achieve a “workable” product can be tremendous. The Abaqus and Isight simulators effectively address these impediments and have been proven to be invaluable tools for enhancing understanding of the mechanics and effects of nonlinear/dynamic expansion of metals. In this presentation, the author reviews some of the challenges that had to be overcome in engineering these expandable products. Abaqus has been used to simulate expansion of threaded connections and was instrumental in optimizing the latest expandable thread designs. Meanwhile, Abaqus was used in conjunction with Isight to optimize the geometry of the next generation of expandable cones for the expansion of downhole tubulars. While these applications tested engineering intuition, the two simulation tools cleared the way for the development of an improved approach to downhole expandable tubulars.

Cataract surgery is the most common surgery in America today. Modern surgeries require the opacified crystalline lens to be removed and for a prosthetic lens to be inserted through a suture-less incision during a 5-10 minute outpatient procedure. The industry is driving for smaller incisions by redesigning the lens and insertion device geometry in addition to new materials. Typical lens dimensions are 6mm diameter with a center thickness of 1mm which is inserted through a 2.8mm incision. For the insertion the lens is folded and elongates while advancing down a tapering tube. Abaqus Explicit was chosen for this analysis because of its capability to solve large deformations and difficult self contact. During the insertion the lens can experience strains in excess of 60%. The purpose of this model is to increase our understanding of the mechanical response of existing products to aide in the design of our future products.

Biomechanics testing of the lumbar spine, using cadaveric specimens, has the advantage of using actual tissue, but has several disadvantages including variability between specimens and difficultly acquiring measures such as disc pressure, bone strain, and facet joint contact pressure. A simulation model addresses all of these disadvantages. The objective of this work is to develop a method to simulate the biomechanics of the lumbar spine.
A process is currently being used to convert a CT scan of a lumbar spine into a simulation model. The process includes converting the CT scan to a geometry file, creating a mesh of the bone and soft tissue, and assigning material properties to each element of the bone based on the bone density. Finally, the model is solved using Abaqus Explicit. Optimization techniques are used to tune uncertain material properties to match the kinematics of the simulation model to actual cadaveric test results.
In addition, techniques have been explored to greatly reduce the computational time for the model. The soft tissue, discs, and ligaments were replaced with simplified mechanical constrains (ball-in-socket joints and non-linear, 3 dimensional torsional springs) and the vertebrae are rigid. This technique can be used for all or a portion of the spine.Further efforts are being pursued to simplify the workflow from CT scan to simulation model.
This model can be used to simulate the performance of implants including total disc replacement and fusion techniques such as interbody spacers with rods and pedicle screws.

AutoLISP is AutoCAD's inbuilt programming language. AutoLISP is used to create programs that will automatically generate drawings. This is a procedural programming language. It is inbuilt i.e. if you have AutoCAD full version loaded on you computer then AutoLISP is already there. AutoCAD LT version do not have AutoLISP interface.

The benefits of a systematic product cost management program are significant, yet many manufacturers struggle to implement these initiatives effectively. This paper discusses some of the obstacles involved and outlines key considerations and best practices for initiating an effective product cost management program. It also provides practical guidelines and examples of how to execute them for maximum impact.

The continuous increase in maritime traffic makes the risk of collision greater, especially in the high traffic areas near harbors, channels and offshore structures. Since the consequences of ship collisions can be severe for the environment and the ship's crew, the behavior of a ship's structure subjected to impact loads, must be taken into consideration in the design stage of a ship. Collision mechanics are usually separated into external dynamics and internal mechanics. External dynamics deals with the rigid body global motion of the vessel and the effect of the surrounding water, while the internal mechanics is concerned with the structural failure response. This paper presents a collision scenario between two handymax class double skin bulk carriers, in which the external dynamics have been neglected in order to simplify the analysis and reduce model run times. The finite element model has been created in ANSA and solved in LS-DYNA while the results were presented in μETA post-processor. ANSA and μETA comprise the pre- & post-processing suite of BETA CAE Systems S.A. .

Will your software development organization allow you to make a decision, or at
least heed your advice? In other words, will your manager continue to make decisions for
you and your team, leaving you with only one choice: implement the project plan even if
you disagree with it?

Project managers are making decisions all the time on different stages of the project. Some decisions are strategic: they are usually made during initiation of the project and significantly affect the further course of actions. Other project decisions may not be so important, and it is possible to make some corrective actions if something goes wrong.

NASA satellites and spacecraft require fairly advanced temperature control which ensures that the electronic components and highly sensitive instruments work properly. Every piece of equipment has a temperature range in which it works properly. The equipment may be damaged if it gets too far outside its operating temperature range.

In the discrete manufacturing industries, between one-third and one-half of the CAD systems in use today are 3D. The rest are
used for 2D computer-aided drafting.1 Although some tasks will always be done more efficiently with 2D CAD, these figures
suggest many organizations have yet to employ 3D methods.

Linear analysis and Monte Carlo simulation are two wellestablished methods for statistical tolerance analysis of mechanical assemblies. Both methods have advantages and
disadvantages. The Linearized Method, a form of linear analysis, provides fast analysis, tolerance allocation, and the
capability to solve closed loop constraints.

A Lorentz force linear motion actuator was built to deliberately exhibit a highly nonlinear current for force relation even when the coil was completely immersed in the magnetic field. Magnets were arranged radially around the coil but only half the permissible number were included in order to generate a more complex actuator configuration to test the ability of the EMS electromagnetic finite element analysis software to handle more challenging magnetic path geometries. A detailed set of experiments were carried out on the actual actuator and a similar set of analyses were undertaken using the EMS magnetostatic electromagnetic finite element analysis software. EMS correctly accounted for the gross nonlinearities in the current to force measurements.

Develop an on-line customer education tool that visually demonstrates the timing functions offered by the relays. Adobe® Flash® and PHP scripting were used to present, animate, save and retrieve data to and from a MySQL® database. Portability and rebranding were critical elements so a configuration tool was developed for customer use that allowed verbiage, graphic and theme changes.

Until recently, most research in wind energy technology has been focused on macro power generation devices like horizontal axis wind turbines. These massive devices, which are typically more than 100 meters in height and generate at least a megawatt of power, are well-suited for commercial interests in large industrialized regions in the US and Europe.

International Game Technology in Reno, Nevada is a global company that designs, manufactures, and sells computerized gaming machines. Diane Strachan is one of the company’s product designers. The company designs games of chance for placement in casinos, but Strachan makes it very clear that they take no chances in the development of their products.

Sometimes, Spencer Newman, president of The Newman Group, a medical device manufacturer, wishes he’d discovered Protomold® and First Cut Prototype® a little sooner. “A while back, we were developing our fi rst product and weren’t yet aware of all the available tooling options. We thought we had completed the prototyping stage, so we went ahead and had very expensive steel tools made,” says Newman. “It turned out that we weren’t quite there and needed some minor changes in the design. Unfortunately, when it comes to steel molds, little changes can have big price tags, so it was a diffi cult lesson learned.”

Sometimes, Spencer Newman, president of The Newman Group, a medical device manufacturer, wishes he’d discovered Protomold® and First Cut Prototype® a little sooner. “A while back, we were developing our fi rst product and weren’t yet aware of all the available tooling options. We thought we had completed the prototyping stage, so we went ahead and had very expensive steel tools made,” says Newman. “It turned out that we weren’t quite there and needed some minor changes in the design. Unfortunately, when it comes to steel molds, little changes can have big price tags, so it was a diffi cult lesson learned.”

Based in Linkoping, Sweden, DST Control delivers advanced embedded electromechanical
products, primarily for unmanned vehicles, which include both aerial
vehicles (UAVs) and ground vehicles (UGVs). These include unmanned helicopters,
airships and spherical ground robots. These products can be used for surveillance,
law enforcement, and mapping.

On average, tooled snowmobile parts previously took eight to 12 weeks, at about $60,000 each. Now, Polaris’ in-house FDM machine cuts the time to about two days with outstanding cost savings as a bonus. With PC-ABS materials, functional prototypes are tested and refined long before they hit the snow.

Script Pro’s Fortus system paid for itself within months as it eliminated costly tooling and machining for a highly customized part. Plus, stock can be created in days and changes made on the spot, to better meet customer needs. For just one part alone, $30,000 was saved on engineering time and tooling.

Challenge
When sketching inside an Inventor part, constraints preview, but once the sketch is finished, the constraints disappear.
Solution
To view a video that describes how to make sure the Constraint Persistence hasn’t accidentally been turned off visit : http://video.ketivtech.com/TechTips/Constraint%20persist.wmv.

A fast experimental procedure for the calibration of internal combustion engines microprocessor control systems is proposed. This procedure is based on using a new approach to the solution of many-parametric optimization problems with constraints. The main benefit of this approach is that it requires a minimum number of experimental measurements where the measurements can have a high level of noise stability to the inaccuracy of measurements and adjustments.

Last week Alibre Inc. was visited by students from Byron Nelson High School to be trained on how to use Alibre Design Professional software. The goal was not just to learn 3D CAD software, which most of these students already had a firm grasp of, but to use their skills to design a solar power car for a real life multi state race.

Alibre Value Added Resellers (VARs) collaborate with many interesting people in the business community and the academic world. Jesse Nichols of Brainchild Enterprises has been an Alibre VAR for several years and works closely with educators and engineers in New Mexico.

Model Wins 2009 Alibre Design Contest
Indiana-based extrusion engineer Keith Lindner (www.3dstudioproductions.com) found himself in the position many others are facing right now: deciding how best to maximize his efforts during the suffering economy. The core of Keith's business is extrusion engineering services, specializing in process and product improvement, engineering and tooling design. The current economic slowdown has given Keith the inspiration to also begin offering mechanical design services, from creating machine-shop-ready mechanical drawings to precision 3D mechanical animations and photo-realistic product and machine visualizations.

Based in the West Midlands, MNB Molds are a tool maker who specialise in multi-cavity, highly accurate hardened steel tools primarily for the automotive, medical and electrical markets. Originally established in 1974, MNB have a turnover of approximately £1.2 million and produce 50-70 molds per year with prestige customers that include Eaton Corporation, Honeywell, MK Electric Co and Cable Management Group.

Located in Mansfield, Ohio, Hi-Point Firearms and Strassell’s Machine Inc. design, develop, prototype and manufacture pistol and carbine firearms for sportsmen. Their products are recognized for their excellent value - economic pricing with zero compromise in quality.

In a highly challenging and competitive engineering environment, the use of computational methods in aerodynamics design gives a lead, while the choice of the proper Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software is of paramount importance. WR Digital Ltd. adopted ANSA of BETA CAE Systems S.A. as the standard pre-processing tool for CFD in order to excel and offer to its clients and partners a leading position.

Automation drives manufacturing. Yet, the final step in the process continues to be
time consuming, labor intensive and tedious. However, one quality expert has found
a way to automate first article inspection. Vince Arboleda applied CGI’s Cross-
Sectional Scanning technology to cut labor costs by 80 percent and reduce inspection
time by 60 percent.

It would be impossible to build parts like this without our Delcam software,” claims Glen Hendrickson, a partner and designer at AIMMco, an injection mould manufacturer based just north of Portland, Oregon.

Since changing to Delcam’s FeatureCAM knowledge-based CAM system, Vector Tool & Engineering has reduced programming time for feature-intensive 2.5D parts by 50% to 75% and for less feature-intensive 3D parts by 25%. This adds up to a lot of savings for the mouldmaking company that generates an average of 240 new programs every month. In addition, machining time has been saved by the software’s more efficient rest-machining and trochoidal-milling capabilities

The Dial Corporation manufactures a wide variety of consumer products including soap, body wash products, air fresheners, hard surface cleaners and insecticides. Dial is organized into three core product groups: Personal Care, Laundry Care and Home Care. Dial has a design team within its Home Care group that focuses on the packaging of products developed in its department.

Customers are now asking for technologies that will enable mobile users to access tools beyond wellestablished
e-mail and text messaging. However, simply loading mobile applications which allow the
use of spreadsheets, documents, and other files generated by desktop applications has some serious
issues.

The Group’s experience and expertise encompasses the entire spectrum of distribution centre operation and infrastructure, from consultation, design and building to installation, maintenance and support.

The Group’s experience and expertise encompasses the entire spectrum of distribution centre operation and infrastructure, from consultation, design and building to installation, maintenance and support.

Coupesag are a Laser Job shop situated in Montreal, Canada. One of the major factors for choosing Lantek Expert as their CAD/CAM solution was the ability to produce accurate costs and times for quotes. This was key in improving the efficiency of their operation, for sales and production control.

Optimization is the process by which the performance of a lens system is improved by changing the values of some
of the lens data (variables) such that a measure of lens performance is improved. This measure of lens performance
comes in the form of an error function or merit function.

MC Lights and Manufacturing Ltd. specialize in the manufacture and supply of Lights to the entertainment industry. Our sister company, MC Laser Werks Inc., provides a full range of laser cutting, welding and forming.

Coupesag are a Laser Job shop situated in Montreal, Canada. One of the major factors for choosing Lantek Expert as their CAD/CAM solution was the ability to produce accurate costs and times for quotes. This was key in improving the efficiency of their operation, for sales and production control.

Heat exchangers take heat from one fluid and pass it to a second. The fire-tube array of a steam engine is a heat exchanger, taking heat from the hot combustion gases of the firebox and transmitting it to the water in the boiler. The network of finned tubes in an air conditioner is a heat exchanger, taking heat from the air of the room and dumping it into the working fluid of the conditioner. The radiator in a car performs a similar function. A key element in all heat exchangers is the tube wall or membrane which separates the two fluids. It is required to transmit heat and there is frequently a large pressure difference across it.

hsCADCompare allows quick evaluation and visualization of changes made between CAD drawings. hsCADCompare will easily merge changes from one drawing to other. You no longer worry about merging documents.

The VR models give you a very real sense of the boat from the inside. People can literally drop in and walk through the exact area they are building." - Dean Brown, Dimensional Control Inspector, BAE Systems Submarine Solutions

A Brazilian company providing complete and innovative packaging solutions to industries as diverse as food, chemical, pharmaceutical and hardware, says Edgecam has onsiderably increased the productivity of its 19 CNC machines.

A world market leader in producing upgrade precision components to remote control model helicopter enthusiasts around the world says using Alphacam beats the competition to get products on the market first.

ILC Dover, under contract by NASA Langley Research Center, and in cooperation with NASA Johnson Space Center is designing and manufacturing an expandable lunar habitat. This cylindrical habitat, or Engineering Development Unit (EDU), is a hybrid system with two hard end caps and a deployable softgoods section in the center. The softgood section packs into the endcaps and the unit roughly doubles in length upon deployment. The EDU is designed to demonstrate packing and deployment of an expandable habitat under expected loading conditions. Using a unique fabric lobe system, the structure is intended to be lighter in weight with a higher volume than a similar metal configuration. The restraint layer uses a webbing net construction with a coated fabric to carry the pressure loads up to 9 psi. Finite Element Analysis of the fabric lobe and webbing structure was performed to ensure that the structure will meet the desired safety limits. Analysis was also used to establish manufacturing tolerances during the fabrication process. Testing of the webbing seams and lobe under pressure further validated the design decisions. The next step in the evolution of the EDU is system testing, interior outfitting, and field operations.

Compared with response spectrum method and the pushover method, Elasto-plastic dynamic time-history analysis method is considered to be a more accurate seismic analysis method. Because of Abaqus’s strong non-linear calculation function, the software makes it possible for the method mentioned above to be applied. Elasto-plastic dynamic analysis on complex structures using Abaqus has a rapid development in China. In this paper, with CCTV Building, Shanghai World Expo Axis Sun Valley, Dalian Xiaoping island super-high-rise apartment building and many other cases of engineering practice, the problem-solving experience of seismic analysis on major projects is described, which will provide some reference to the analysis method’s further development and engineering practice.

This paper aims to investigate the train-induced ground vibration and appropriate countermeasures using numerical modeling by Abaqus. First, the effect of appropriate boundary modeling in wave propagation studies is addressed by illustrating the application of nonreflecting boundaries in Abaqus using infinite elements. Second, the propagation of waves in the ground was investigated by applying an impact-type loading. Then, the attenuation of maximum acceleration on the surface ground was compared to the data from geotechnical centrifuge tests conducted at Tokyo Institute of Technology and the theoretical solutions. These comparisons confirmed the reliability of the numerical modeling by Abaqus in this study. Next, the effect of barriers in reduction of ground vibration was investigated by modeling a wave barrier at the transmission path. Three different types of barriers were evaluated considering their stiffness: Concrete wall, improved soil, and EPS. A benchmark model was also analyzed without any mitigation measure to evaluate the effectiveness of the wave barriers. Furthermore, the effects of both geometry (depth and width) and material of barriers on the vibration reduction were examined through a parametric study and the results were verified using the geotechnical centrifuge tests.

The fire resistance of steel framed multi story buildings and their ability to withstand exposure to fully developed fire conditions without the need for all structural members to be protected with insulating material (passive fire protection) has received significant attention in recent years. This has been based around determining patterns of partial passive fire protection in accordance with sound fire engineering procedures that will ensure satisfactory performance in severe fires. A suitable procedure is the Slab Panel Method (SPM), which has been developed from a programme of small and large scale experimental testing under both Standard Fire (ISO 834) and natural fire conditions, in conjunction with implicit and quasi-static explicit simulations. The Abaqus experience gained from this applied research is utilized to full extent in the current design study. In this paper the application of the SPM design approach is briefly outlined for a new 12 level office building under construction in Auckland’s central business district, followed by details of the FEA undertaken to validate the SPM results. The outcome of the performance based design process is a steel structure with partial fire proofing. Structural elements which are critical for structural stability are protected with conventional fire proofing materials, and the floor beams for which fire proofing provides no improvement in structure performance are designed without this passive fire protection. Abaqus simulations are presented and benchmarked against the design.

General Motors, in conjunction with SIMULIA Great Lakes, have developed a studio of Abaqus/CAE plug-ins designed to increase the efficiency of their analysts in the definition of their model assemblies. These plug-in are written to bridge the gaps and to enhance the usability of native tools in Abaqus/CAE specifically for bolt joint assembly simulation. The main advantage of the plug-in studio is improved efficiency, both in terms of time saving and modeling accuracy/consistency. Secondary benefits include the ability to enable less experienced users leverage the complex modeling methods encapsulated by each plug-in. This paper presents a few of the developed plug-ins, describing for each the process captured. One of these tools, the ‘bolt library’ is available to the wider Abaqus user community.

This work describes a numerical methodology based on the Finite Element approach able to simulate the dynamic maneuver of the full vehicle running on fatigue reference roads. The basic idea of present work stays in combining a moderately complex and general tire model with traditional full-vehicle methods, including both implicit and explicit finite element techniques, in order to predict – within the early design phases when no prototypes are available - the loads transmitted to the vehicle running on the real fatigue reference roads. Some issues related to application of tire finite element model to a long simulation time in an explicit solution have been discussed. The real fatigue load is digitalized and implemented as a rigid body in the explicit code. The methodology has been successfully applied to Fiat light commercial vehicle, New Fiorino, chosen as test case for this work.

Production of glass bottles requires blowing of the glass after entrance of a gob of molten glass in the blank mould. The final shape of the bottle is highly dependent on the viscosity of the glass, the blow-pressure and the temperature distribution in the glass and the mould and simulation of this complicated process enables optimization of the process conditions. During simulation of blowing of the glass, the mesh has to be adapted due to the extreme deformations of the mesh. Using the existing ALE-technique for this kind of applications requires a lot of user-intervention and trial-and-error to create a mesh that suits both the initial and final topology of the glass. To reduce the user-time and to be able to run this kind of analyses automatically based on an arbitrary base-geometry, a completely automated remeshing/rezoning procedure is set-up. In this procedure the A/Explicit analysis is divided in a number of sub-analyses after each of which a new (3D) geometry of the glass is created based on the deformed mesh (using ABAQUS/CAE). Using a map-routine the solution from the previous analysis is mapped on the new mesh such that continuation of results is ensured. Using the automated remeshing capability, simulations of the glass bottle forming process have successfully been performed, enabling for example optimization of process settings. Due to the generic set-up of the remeshing procedure it can easily be used for other simulations that require adaptive meshing as well.

This paper presents several modeling techniques for simulating and optimizing aluminum bottle forming using Abaqus/Explicit. Designing and tuning sheet-metal forming tools for aluminum bottles are quite complicated and time consuming tasks. These tasks must take into consideration a number of potential issues, such as the success rate of forming, bottle shape smoothness, bottle load capacity, sheet-metal over-thinning, and metal wrinkling. To shorten the
design cycle and reduce the number of forming tool prototypes for the Coke Contour aluminum bottle, simulations with Abaqus served as virtual test grounds to provide valuable insight into the bottle’s complex forming processes. Because of large deformation and contact interactions, Abaqus nonlinear capabilities were well suited for these tasks. This paper demonstrates Abaqus forming applications that helped resolve issues arising from realistic industrial forming design
and production processes. Three bottle-forming simulations used to predict sheet-metal forming instability, metal over-thinning, and metal wrinkling are used to illustrate the effectiveness of numerical simulations.

The Virtual Race Track, VRT, suite of simulations is the most recent addition to the automation tools known as Virtual Package Simulation, VPS, for analyzing the performance of plastic bottles. These new simulations predict the dynamic performance of bottles traveling on conveyors. The objective is to determine if the bottles remain standing after impacting fixed guide rails and gates. The bottles must remain standing to be effectively conveyed. By using ABAQUS to predict this performance, designs can be evaluated much earlier in the product development cycle.
The VRT prototype began in a rigid body dynamics code. Several key limitations emerged and the simulations were moved to ABAQUS/Explicit. The factors that drove this change included improved numerical stability, ability to apply variable shell thickness, need for deformable structures and improved accuracy.
This paper outlines the development of the analysis. Key areas of focus are technical challenges faced, integration using part instantiation, scripting and parameterization as well as speed up using domain decomposition parallelization and more efficient contact algorithms.

From a structural point of view, corrugated board would fit on the category of sandwich structures, which in sectors as aeronautics or construction are today commonly analysed using simulation tools that are based on the Finite Element Method. However, in spite of similarities to applications in other materials, FEM simulation of corrugated board is a high challenging modelling task due not only to the need of addressing properly the complex mechanical modelling of paper itself, but also because of phenomena that are directly related to the corrugated structure, as the relationships between local and global instability failure modes. The present paper, through a set of application examples, shows how different Abaqus modelling capabilities (SC8R elements, composite sections, connector elements, …) can be applied for solving the different difficulties that arise when modelling corrugated board. The integration of these capabilities has led to the development of virtual prototypes for the two most common corrugated board packages: B1 boxes and agricultural trays. From the experience in these box types, and taking advantage from the inherent modelling simplicity of the composite layered models together to the flexibility offered by the available modelling techniques in Abaqus, these virtual prototypes have been extended as a design tool for very different types of corrugated board packages.

The emergence of simulation data management software packages provides an opportunity to both streamline simulation processes and further leverage the impact of simulation results. The nimble mechanism for process automation offered by SIMULIA SLM (Simulation Lifecycle Management) product reduces simulation turnaround by establishing connections between and managing simulation stages while allowing interactive components, such as Abaqus/CAE, to provide rich functionality. A strategy of combining a server based management system with local interactive components allows new and existing simulation processes to be quickly encapsulated into a streamlined tool. The management system (SLM) tracks data pedigree and provides sophisticated search/retrieval tools for simulation related data. The results are faster simulation cycles (build/run/analyze) and improved quality control of simulation activities (formalized process and associated control mechanism). Achieving the correct balance between adaptability and rigidity within a simulation process is a key aspect to consider as SLM is configured to a specific target user group. For example, expert users can take advantage of process streamlining and data management with full access to interactive application capability providing maximum flexibility. At the other extreme, a directed process with intentionally limited choices may be appropriate for a non-expert user. Combining a configurable process and data management tool (SLM) and customized interactive components (i.e., Abaqus/CAE) provides a common environment for teams to realize full value from simulation efforts. This paper uses two applications using SLM in conjunction with interactive tools to provide formalized simulation processes to illustrate the advantages of such a strategy.

In a firearm the firing cycle is a high-speed dynamic event, of short duration (a few milliseconds) and highly non-linear - large displacements, plasticity, contact - during which its components are subjected to pulse loads - high-pressure and temperature gas and impact between moving parts. In the design of any firearm choosing the locking (breech) system is the fundamental starting point as this will guarantee that the cartridge case is adequately supported to withstand the tremendous rearward thrust exerted by the powder gases. The breech system consists of a group of high strength components – barrel, bolt, receiver, locking devices, etc. – the task of which is to keep the rear portion of the barrel closed for a certain time period, until the pressure of the powder gases has dropped to an operating limit at which the breech may be opened safely for completing the firing cycle. After this time period an automatic firearm performs the other functions - unlocking of the bolt, extraction and ejection of the spent cartridge case, loading of a fresh cartridge and locking of the bolt - utilizing the impulse of gas pressure to impart a velocity to the movable parts. It is the purpose of the present work to illustrate, through some practical applications, the integration of Test and ABAQUS as a convenient approach for the rational and conscious (numerical) design of the locking system, while indicating the potential and also the limitations both from the mechanical strength and the movable part dynamics points of view.

The Army is developing new grenades with sensors instead of explosives. A grid of 40-mm grenades will be fired from conventional M16 rifles. The projectiles must survive gun launch and impact. After impact, soldiers will get a real-time ‘picture’ of a local area. Signals from the onboard sensors will be processed on a hand-held computer that captures the activity within the grenade web.
The grenades need to operate after they impact different types of structures. The payload contains sensitive electronics. Due to the nature of the electronics, most of the grenade structure is nonmetallic to prevent attenuation of the signals. Impact energy must be absorbed by the ogive/nose section of the projectile. Different designs were evaluated to determine the g-loads exerted on the electronics and the reflected velocity of the grenade. A steel plate was used as the base-line impact structure. Results were compared for crushable polymer foams, crushable metal foams, and collapsible polymer structures. These analyses were completed using ABAQUS Explicit, a general-purpose finite element code. Collapsible polymer structures provided the smallest gforces to the electronics and the smallest reflected velocities after impact.

A new method is introduced for conducting blast load analyses using the new Coupled-Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) capability of Abaqus/Explicit. In the past, either a 1-D blast code or tabular data was used to determine a pressure vs. time curve that would be applied to the exterior surfaces that were assumed to interact with the blast wave. These pressure curves were generated using knowledge of the amount/type of explosive and line-of-sight distance away from the explosion. While this method remains valid, with increasingly complex structural geometry, oblique surfaces, and with corners facing the blast, the amount of overhead required to analytically determine the necessary pressure loading for each of the various surfaces becomes exhaustive. This new approach involves surrounding the structure with a body of air (Eulerian), imparting a blast (pressure) wave as a boundary condition into the body of air, and then having it propagate into the Lagrangian structure. The Lagrangian structure can be positioned arbitrarily within the Eulerian domain to achieve any angle of incidence that is desired. This new method negates the need to determine reflected pressures for oblique surfaces a priori. This approach remains to be validated against test data (impulse-momentum traps) but thus far the results look promising.

Monte Carlo reliability calculations for high-reliability systems are very computationally expensive. Variance reduction techniques optimize this process greatly and directional simulation is one such technique. Directional simulation is particularly valuable for high reliability systems where the failure surface is highly curved or dislocated. Subsea pipe-in-pipe structures in certain classes represent such a system and Abaqus is ideally equipped to solve this structural problem, which involves contact with friction, buckling, plasticity and fabrication imperfections amongst other phenomena. The pipe-in-pipe structure is non-linear in normal service. The directional simulation algorithms were programmed in VB and Excel. In addition, the VB software generated the Abaqus input files to define a unique model for each combination of parameters to populate the design space/failure surface. The tool also generated the Python scripts required to launch and post-process the Abaqus runs automatically within the directional simulation algorithm. The parameter selection was intelligent to the extent that the algorithm used the available results to cluster runs in the regions of the failure surface that required the best definition. This paper will demonstrate the techniques used and show how the tools were validated on a known-reliability structure. The process of arriving at a probability-of-failure value for a structure (with properties that are random variables) that behaves non-linearly under operating loads will be described.

In developing weapon systems for the warfighter, the US Army uses modeling and simulation tools to support the design, test and manufacturing of these systems. One of these tools is Abaqus/Explicit, including the coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian capability CEL. The addition of CEL in version 6.7EF-1 opened the door to a new realm of problems that could not be previously be modeled. With the addition of this new capability came the need for internal validation to establish a level of confidence for the class of problems of interest to the U.S. Army. Over the course of 2 years, several validation problems were modeled and the results compared to either experimental or analytical results. A few of these problems were selected for this paper, including the dynamic tensile extrusion of copper, JWL equation of state of explosive expansion, and compressible inviscid flow in a shock tube. The details of these analyses and comparison to experiment will be discussed along with their practical implications.

The Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) capabilities of Abaqus V6.9-EF1 could have a significant impact on finite element modeling of failure for the U. S. Army. The Army has many areas where fracture is important from failure of components, to penetration, to warhead development. To assess the value of XFEM under static loading, comparisons were made with experimental data of notched panels. The panels had different angles of notches. The crack growth direction and applied forces for crack growth were compared to experiments using ABAQUS. The applied force at failure was within 5% of experimental values. The predicted crack growth direction was accurate. Since much of the Army’s work involves dynamic explicit analysis, the XFEM technique may only find limited use until it is extended into the ABAQUS Explicit program.

When simulating bolts, the amount of detail to include is often raised. The analyst is left with using judgment in deciding to include or not include details, such as threads. For system models, where the primary bolt function is to transfer load from the cover to the base, thread details are sometimes perceived as not needed. It is believed that a reasonable result can be achieved without this detail.
Should the bolt head contact interface be bonded or full, and how does this affect the shank stress, is another concern. This again is a judgment left to the analyst.
This paper evaluates boundary conditions and software settings used in simulating bolts. A simulated threaded bolt with full contact is the baseline model. A model with interaction, smear, at the threaded region and one with tied contact at the threaded region is compared against the baseline model.
A summary table is generated to compare the results of the approaches used.

As design cycle times are shortened, engineers continue to find ways to be more productive. Generally, one tries to leverage software tools to get solutions faster. This productivity improvement is possible through continued software advancements, such as the Pro/ENGINEER to Abaqus/CAE Associative Import, via an Elysium Neutral (Assembly) File. Engineers can iterate from CAD to FEA while retaining applied loads and boundary conditions. This paper will discuss use of the associative import features with design changes (such as thickness change, split surfaces, or holes). The pros and cons in using the tool will be tabulated. The reader will see that using the associative import can reduce design iterations from weeks to days.

The purpose of the present work is to discuss some FEM procedures and experimental methods that are currently used in the pipeline industry and open the way to the possibility of developing new experimental apparatuses which can provide much more economical alternatives to traditional design codes and tests.

Nearly no load bearing behaviour of reinforced concrete members allows such varied interpretations and complex discussions as the shear behaviour. Especially the three-dimensional problem of the punching shear failure of reinforced concrete members is internationally discussed. Nevertheless up to now, there is no unified design approach or even an overall accepted design model. Especially for large structural members, as they are commonly used in industrial structures and high-rise structures, the experimental background is missing. Because of extensive costs and very high test loads numerical solutions and FE-simulations are indispensable. By using Abaqus, finite-element simulations are currently performed at the institute for reinforced and prestressed concrete structures at the Ruhr-University Bochum. For the main investigation of the punching shear problem, the general conditions as well as the applicability of the constitutive law and the discretization have to be investigated, proved and verified first. The main goals of these preliminary investigations are the determination of influences of different element types, the discretization of the reinforcement and the size effects of the used material model. The concrete is modelled by 8-nodes or 20-nodes solid continuum elements. Regarding the concrete material behaviour, a non-linear user-defined material model based on the concrete damaged plasticity model is used. For the parametric study, small and medium-sized slabs are simulated for comparison and verification with experimental data to ensure realistic results of the large-sized structures. The article will report the latest results of these simulations and the special problems of simulating the punching shear failure of reinforced concrete slabs.

The paper deals with the dynamic performance of a simply reinforced concrete tower built using prefabricated elements. The main uncertainty of this strategy stems from the possible cracking of the concrete and its implications on the stiffness, natural frequency and dynamic amplification of the tower.
In 2006 an 80 m high prototype was built, supporting a 1.5 MW wind generator, carefully instrumented and test loaded to 80% of its design capacity. The prototype and installed instrumentation remained in operation for 3 years. Detailed calculations were carried out of the cracking induced in the concrete and its effects on the natural frequency of the tower, as a function of wind speed and orientation; the results were compared with the monitoring data.
It is concluded that numerical modelling with Abaqus allowed good predictions and interpretations of the observed response of the tower. Also, simply reinforced concrete is shown to be a good option for high towers; if the structure is well designed, the natural frequency will not migrate to a point where its proximity to the forcing frequency will lead to unacceptable levels of the dynamic amplification.

A recent breakthrough in the development of shape memory materials has demonstrated promising applications for completion products in the oil and gas industry. In one of the targeted applications, shape modification is a major step toward commercialization of this technology. Efficiently and effectively reshaping the material is a key element for final production. The goal of our technical team is to design and optimize the reshaping equipment so as to enable production quantities of tools while maintaining material properties. Many factors could affect the reshaping of the shape memory material such as reshaping profile, length, available compaction force, compaction speed, shear deformation, and damage to the material. In order to achieve better understanding and obtain optimized parameters, material reshaping was extensively investigated through numerical modeling and advanced finite element analysis. This paper will cover the concepts, challenges, and finite element modeling of reshaping shape memory materials. Detailed deformation and stress distribution of the material were obtained and analyzed to guide the equipment design.

Solar trackers are being increasingly used within the industry in order to improve the amount of power produced by photovoltaic systems. The design of these devices must pay special attention to wind action as the most relevant load seen by the generally flexible structure supporting the panels. However, standard building codes may not be particularly suitable for this sort of very flexible, extremely wind-exposed and not very critical-from-a-safety-point-of-view structures.
In this context, a sensible approach in order to estimate the aerodynamic loading acting on the system, has been carried out by a coupling of CFD and structural analyses performed with FLUENT and Abaqus/Standard, respectively. Some relevant aspects such as most critical scenario selection, influence of incoming turbulence in the dynamic response of the structure, and sizing of the motion system (two axes of rotation) in order to overcome the aerodynamic loading during positioning of the tracker, were addressed.

For high strength carbon fiber reinforced polymers, the design criteria are often specified by the compression strength of the composite materials component. This is due to the fact that the compression strength of unidirectional composites is as low as 50 to 60 percent of the tensile strength. One important compressive failure mode in composite is kink-band formation
which for a great deal is governed by the waviness of the fibers and the yielding properties of the matrix material. Therefore, in order to make proper simulation of the failure modes in composites, it is necessary to take these effects into account. One approach is to model the actual fiber/matrix system using a micromechanical based finite element model. For realistic composite structures with a large number of fibers, approaches which will result in extremely large numerical models including a great deal of unwanted details. An alternative is to base the simulation on a smeared out composite model where the nonlinear properties of the constituents are taken into account. A finite element implementation of such a model is presented. The model is implemented as an Umat user subroutine in the commercial finite element program Abaqus and used to predict kink-band formation in composite materials.

In the UK, conventional fossil fired plant is operated flexibly, some has now operated in excess of 5,000 starts and there has been an increase in the occurrence of crack initiation and propagation in a variety of components and from a variety of features.
Three previous papers by the same authors have been presented on this topic which detail results for straight and curved cracks in generator rotor teeth. ABAQUS submodelling is used with a ‘simple cracked’ C3D8 global model driving a C3D20 submodel containing the ‘crack tip’ mesh.
Rotor geometries are relatively easily meshed by sweeping, this paper extends the method to use a C3D10 tetrahedral global model applicable to conventional power generation plant. Tetrahedral mesh is controlled using the external face mesh with little control of the ‘internal’ mesh. In this paper the solid is partitioned to ensure a fine and even mesh around the crack tip and at the driven nodes.
The ‘crack tip’ submodel is made by sweeping and can be fully buried, it need not extend to the surface boundary, which can be problematic if this is not normal to the crack tip. The global model can contain many cracks and the same cracktip submodel can simply be repositioned to extract crack output at as many crack locations and directions as required.
The complexity of traditional crack modelling has restricted its use to fairly simple geometry, this method however enables cracks to be effectively modelled in any general solid.

Numerical methods applicable to the tibia bone and soft tissue biomechanics of an ACL reconstructed knee are presented in this paper. The aim is to achieve a better understanding of the mechanics of an ACL reconstructed knee. The paper describes the methodology applied in the development of an anatomically detailed three-dimensional ACL reconstructed knee model for
finite element analysis from medical image data obtained from a CT scan. Density segmentation techniques are used to geometrically define the knee bone structure and the encapsulated soft tissues configuration. Linear and non-linear elastic constitutive material models are implemented to mechanically characterize the behaviour of the biological materials. Preliminary numerical results for the model qualitative evaluation are presented.

For clinicians and medical device manufacturers, in-vitro and in-vivo testing of the knee are important methods for evaluating treatment techniques. However, numerical models that can provide much of the same information will become of more service and are a new focus of the modeling community. A continued effort has centered on specimen-specific anatomical and functional models, in terms of both geometry and mechanical properties of the tissue constituents. Here, a specimen-specific model of the knee is presented that includes the femur, tibia, and four main ligaments (ACL, PCL, MCL, and LCL). Solid models based on CT and MR scans of a human knee joint were meshed in Patran and assembled for solving in Abaqus 6.7-1. Ligaments were modeled using a nonlinear strain energy function which decouples the contributions of the nonlinear, isotropic ground substance (modeled as a neo-Hookean material) and the aligned, nonlinear collagen fibers (modeled using embedded one-dimensional nonlinear springs). Values of the material properties of the ACL were determined using inverse finite element (FE) analysis in which the other three ligaments were resected. Parameter regression was accomplished using the nonlinear local, gradient-based optimization capabilities of both Matlab (Mathworks, Natick, MA) and the optimization software HEEDS (Red Cedar Technology, East Lansing, MI). Analyses for regression assumed a displacement/rotation profile for the femur based on an experimental protocol in development, and optimized against the predicted reaction forces relative to the experimental measurements. Properties of the MCL, LCL, and PCL can be determined sequentially in a similar fashion, thus building up the full knee joint. The ability of the FE model to replicate joint kinematics will be presented, as well as the success of the nonlinear material parameter optimization.

The fracture of the proximal humerus is the second most common injury to the upper extremity. In severe fractures, surgery may be necessary which can be in the form of a locking plate holding the bones in place. This study examines the effect of including a bonegraft alongside the locking plate. ScanIP and +ScanCAD (Simpleware Ltd) were used to segment the proximal humerus from a CT scan, and to introduce CAD data of the fixation plate and bonegraft. The combined model of image data (proximal humerus) and CADdata (fixation plate, bonegraft) was then meshed in +ScanFE (Simpleware Ltd) were materials and contacts were defined. The materials for the bonegraft and locking plate were linear elastic. The bone material was based on the greyscales values adjusting the material with pixel intensity. Contacts were defined between the bones and from the locking plate to the bones enabling the plate and bones to move or slide. The bonegraft was fixed to the locking plate and bone. In Abaqus/Standard, the distal part of the model was fixed and load was applied on the proximal end of the bone where the body weight was likely to be transmitted. The results showed that the presence of bone graft gave a 60% reduction in pressures at the screw tips, a 150% reduction in pressures along lateral cortex, and was in agreement with the in vitro experimental testing. In conclusion, the locking plate with the bone graft provides a more stable construction.

Genetic algorithms have become one of successful tools in design and topology optimization. The optimization module based on genetic algorithms was developed and employed in Abaqus/CAE by GUI and kernel scripting. The new module extends advanced functionality of Abaqus/CAE allowing to perform optimization directly in Abaqus Unified FEA product suite from SIMULIA. The genetic algorithms implemented in optimization approach are based on available GPL libraries. Significant improvement in evolving into optimal solution can be achieved when genetic algorithms are combined with neural networks which one can train by running Abaqus jobs, and substantially improve the efficiency of computations. In the paper the shape optimization problem of a tooth implant will be presented and discussed in detail. The particular Abaqus features useful in this application will be highlighted, as well. The presented approach seems to be extremely efficient in parallel computations.

Identification of fatigue cracks in turbo-machinery components is a vital but costly effort. This work focuses on nonlinearities in the response behavior resulting from the opening and closing of cracks that results in super-harmonic resonances due to harmonic excitations. Experimental results for a cracked cantilever beam are presented as well as the results from numerical simulations of an integrally bladed compressor disk FE model. Identification of sensitive vibration features is expected to contribute to the development of automated crack detection techniques for aircraft engine disks.

One key aspect for the design of fast and flexible steam turbine operation is thermal stresses arising during transient operation. If the stresses exceed the fatigue limits of the material, the lifetime of the steam turbine is shortened. Detailed finite element analysis is applied during design phase to assess the effect of transient temperature and stress profiles on the complex geometries. A significant amount of design effort is invested to determine the optimal process
parameters for start-up (e.g. steam temperatures, run-up and loading gradients), in order to achieve the fastest possible starts without exceeding allowable material stress limits. The first step of the current practice is to derive the transient thermal boundary conditions for the whole startup simulation, based on pre-defined process parameters. In a second step a finite element analysis is performed to verify these thermal boundary conditions. Using this sequential approach, a high number of iterations are required to arrive at the optimal process parameters. An automation process in the form of a design tool was developed to determine the optimal process parameters, by means of a feedback control algorithm. Using Python scripting, the tool interlinks the finite element package Abaqus/CAE (Version 6.7 and above) with an Alstom inhouse thermodynamic program, determining optimal transient thermal boundary conditions based on real time thermal stresses. Use of this tool eliminates the need for the high number of manual iterations previously required. This paper presents the concept of the optimization tool and how it interlinks the interdependent programs.

A printer chassis provides an important function of locating and securing the relative position of all the sub-systems that makeup a printer. The customer location could be thousands of miles away from the factory and many modes of transportation are required from ship, train, trucks, forklift, to pushing across corridors, stairs and elevators. The transportation loads are the most sever the printer would see in its life time. These include impacts on all sides at 3 MPH to an 8 inch vertical drop. In today’s competitive market cost is as critical a function as performance to succeed in the market. To design the lowest cost chassis, 3 large highly stressed parts in the chassis were optimized for cost. Two parameters; sheet metal thickness, and material strength were used to minimize the chassis cost provided the combination passed each one of the six unique transportation tests. A six factor, two levels, Taguchi L12 matrix was utilized for the design of experiment (DOE). Abaqus/ Explicit analysis were used for virtual transportation testing to compute the output responses of the DOE. The design optimization exercise resulted in an addition 6% cost savings.

An understanding of functional responses in oral bone is a crucial component of dental biomechanics. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of an osseointegrated implant as support for a free-end removable partial denture (RPD) on the potential biological remodelling response during mastication. A three-dimensional (3D) finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to determine the biomechanical responses to masticatory loading in the posterior mandible. Stresses and strains were analysed at lingual/buccal and mesial/distal areas of the premolar to molar region to anticipate bone remodeling response. Mandibular bone incorporating an implant-supported RPD experienced substantially greater stress/ strain magnitudes than that prior to placement of implant, which is suggestive of engagements of bone remodelling. The results suggest similar outcomes to those reported clinically. Developing a simulation reflecting the outcomes of restorative treatment can provide meaningful insight into restorative treatment planning, clinical outcomes, and removable prosthodontics designs.

A variety of polymers are used extensively for both medical applications and consumer products. Most of these polymers exhibit time-dependant behavior which varies significantly with environmental conditions.
Injection molding technologies generally offer application design freedom and options for several functions build into each component. Meanwhile analysts are often faced with the difficulties of predicting the response of the final product.
Some of the key challenges are:
• Defining a material test protocol that captures the loading modes which the component materials are subjected to.
• Exploration of different measurement methods and their limitations.
• Fitting the material model with test data for general purpose or customized use.
• Evaluating available Abaqus material models for different load cases.
• Testing tailored UMAT models as an alternative.
• Benchmark development for numerical model validation.
From simple geometry loading to virtual prototyping, this paper exemplifies the stepwise progress towards a successful match between load case, measurement setup and numerical model validation. It also deals with the gaps at the current numerical model availability and proposes optional enhancements.

Due to concerns over particle generation in conventional metal-on-polyethylene hip bearings used in total hip arthroplasty (THA), interest in advanced low-wear bearing alternatives such as ceramic-on-ceramic (CoC) couples has reemerged. While ceramics demonstrate excellent compressive strength, the brittle nature of the material reduces tensile strength, possibly leading to catastrophic fracture when loads exceed material limits. Impingement between the femoral neck and acetabular liner gives rise to areas of extreme transient stress concentration, which have been clinically linked to fracture. This work presents methodology for the investigation of 3D ceramic fracture initiation/propagation using Abaqus’ co-simulation and extended finite element modeling (XFEM) capability. An anatomically realistic and physically validated FE model of a THA-implanted hip joint was developed, which employs physiologically accurate hip joint soft tissue capsule utilizing Abaqus’ built-in Holzapfel-Gasser-Ogden Anisotropic Hyperelastic material model. Given the complex contact and non-linear material behavior of the capsule during large rotational displacement of the implant, the use of Abaqus’ co-simulation allows for seamless Abaqus/Explicit analysis of soft-tissue and Abaqus/Standard analysis of hardware interaction and fracture mechanics. The use of XFEM has proven to be a valuable technique to investigate crack initiation and propagation, phenomena which have been tedious or impossible to adequately explore using conventional finite element fracture mechanics. The utilization of these Abaqus capabilities allows for a quantitative assessment of surgical- and patient-specific factors which predispose ceramic hip liners for catastrophic failure.

A person specific drop foot brace was simulated in the commercial finite element code Abaqus.The geometry was imported from a 3D optical scan of the actual surface and modeled as a composite material layup defined in a local discrete material coordinate system. The finite element model was used in order to model the stance phase in a normal walking. The material choice is a challenging task giving flexibility to the brace together with sufficiently stiffness and fatigue strength. The simulation has been compared with measurements from a strain gauge mounted foot brace tested in use. Based on simulations, a large number of expensive trial and error iterations can be avoided. Simulations show a strong geometry interaction with the loading of the material.

In our days, the CAD and CAE models in maritime products development become increasingly complex while more analyses are necessary before a new design is ready to be constructed.
Additionally to the standard assessments, extensive calculations are often needed to ensure the product’s performance characteristics and minimize the failure risk through its lifetime. For the fast employment of such analyses with CAE simulation tools, the use of high efficient pre- and postprocessing software becomes essential.
This work showcases how ANSA pre-processor and μETA post-processor fulfill this requirement of the Maritime Industry by offering sophisticated tools for
advanced simulation techniques, automation capabilities and robust performance.

Bulk carriers are subjected to IACS regulations, concerning the structural integrity of their cargo holds. In sagging and hogging loading conditions the structure of the ship is exposed to maximum values of bending moment and shear force. As a result these conditions are crucial for the determination of the minimum required scantlings, through a global model analysis. This white paper presents the FE model creation of a handymax class bulk carrier and a methodology for modeling realistic, wave induced loading conditions. The whole project has been completed inside ANSA while the FE model was solved in Nastran. ANSA and μETA comprise the pre- & post-processing suite of BETA CAE Systems S.A..

Shops don’t necessarily need five-axis machine tools to take advantage of five-axis programming strategies. Consider the experience of tunneling equipment manufacturer Akkerman Inc., a shop that uses five-axis CAM software to great effect for programming rotary fourth-axis machining operations. In fact, the company credits that software, GibbsCAM from Gibbs and Associates (Moorpark, California), for boosting flexibility, simplifying the machining of its most complex parts and reducing programming time.

You spent a lot of time and effort creating a well-balanced project schedule and thought that you had taken into account almost every possible scenario and risk. However, as soon as you started implementing your project plan, something happened and your schedule became obsolete. This “something” is an unpredictable event.

Project management is the art of making right decision. Project managers are faced by huge array of choices. Should different supplier be used to improve the quality of a product? Should additional team member be brought in to improve the development performance? Should the work be outsourced or done in-house?

IFW Dresden, a Scientific Institute based in Dresden that focuses on solid state physics and materials science research, has been using INTEGRATED Engineering Software’s AMPERES modeling software for advancing some major projects it is working on. Formally known as The Leibniz Institute for Solid State and Materials Research Dresden, IFW Dresden is a non-university research institute.

A-Tech Product Engineering Company (A-Tech), based in Hong Kong, is one of the professional prototype makers in the toy industry and has two main factories in Shinzhen, South China. They first learned of the SensAble™ FreeForm® Modeling Plus™ system about 4 years ago and implemented this unique system—a 3-D touch enabled Computer Aided Sculpting System (CAS)—into their workflow.

Many of these poor quality scans were created on expensive large format scanners whose product literature glows with the promise of quick and easy high quality scans. However, as the scans we receive show, there is no guarantee of useful results when the scanner is used inappropriately for the drawing in hand.

Although the waterfall model is a useful tool for introducing design controls, its usefulness in practice is limited. The model does apply to the development of some simpler devices. However, for more complex structures or devices, a concurrent engineering model is more representative of the design processes in use in the industry and is key to success in any industry, where design and manufacturing come together “and stay together” from concept to finished parts, systems, and vehicles, reporting from both the manufacturing and engineering perspectives.

EASA Software is a spin-off from the UK's Atomic Energy Authority that was founded in 2000. Its original remit (and it still does this) was to build a front-end to complex engineering applications that made those applications easier to use. One of its customers, Proctor and Gamble, then started to use EASA's software as a front-end to its financial systems (which were built using spreadsheets) as well as to its engineering and design applications. P&G reported this back to EASA, which has now productised this functionality.

"To what extent can terrestrial photogrammetry be used for displays andor engineering purposes? What is the state-of-the-art of the technology? What were the difficulties encountered, and how were they circumvented? These are the questions we asked as we set out to determine how best to photograph and preserve the dinosaur tracks on Dinosaur Ridge in Morrison, Colorado."

Over the past four years, Liscio, based in Toronto, has worked on nearly 60 cases around the world. Police use his reconstructions to test their theories of a crime. "You can start running different scenarios -- what would happen if this person was a little to the left: would the trajectory still work? Or could the witness have actually seen the suspect at that point?" Liscio uses off-the-shelf 3D scanning equipment, such as the PhotoModeler Scanner made by EOS, to map entire crime scenes.

In the past, I have extolled STATISTICA 10 statistical software for its ability to cover just about any type of test the user may need. Now, the product line consists of bits and pieces of the whole for special applications and/or limited needs. The new Data Miner product contains all of the routine and advanced statistical tests, as well as a number of very sophisticated mining routines.

The blink of an eye may mean nothing to most people, but in the high-pressure, high-stakes world of auto racing, it can be the difference between winning and losing. Glance at the results of almost any Formula One race and you’ll see that the top three cars usually finish within a few tenths of a second of each other — barring major mechanical failure or driver error, of course. Getting the best performance possible out of these complex speed machines requires intense scrutiny and religious maintenance by experienced engineering teams who are relentlessly focused on finding ways to improve air flow, increase downforce, and reduce drag.

The importance of a good CAD model in the simulation process is an overlooked subject that can ultimately determine the success or failure of successful design validation. When analysis is imminent, one should make geometry decisions that facilitate a more effective and efficient validation of the design. Building efficient analysis models might not necessarily fall in the same context as good CAD models.

For industrial and manufacturing companies, maximized through-put and uptime are the standard measurements of better product
performance—from packaging machinery and mold, tool, and die equipment to materials-
handling machinery and power and process systems.

An effective PDM system does more than simply fulfill the role that documentation management systems played in the past. It also represents a critically important next step for maximizing the productivity benefits of CAD automation across product development stages and throughout the extended enterprise.

The issue of production format in eDiscovery has long been discussed, argued and downright misunderstood. Historically, attorneys produced documents in paper form or electronically in TIFF or Adobe® PDF format. Even documents that originated electronically were often either printed and re-scanned or batch-converted to TIFF or PDF.

Despite worldwide financial crisis, a significant amount of oil rig fabrication work continues to prosper due to the huge
order book backlog. Whilst some projects have been cancelled or delayed because of financing, the on-going projects
are now under bigger pressure to save time and cost of fabrication.

Shipbuilding CAD/CAM systems are a rich source of data that can be consumed by other business processes. In shipbuilding, managing and tracking the procurement and consumption of materials via an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a critical portion of a shipyard’s overall IT infrastructure.

The CGI Pearl-700 Desktop 3D Inspection
System and its Spec.Check software can
significantly reduce the time and expense
currently spent in measuring and qualifying
your injection molded first article parts.

5-axis technology is used in a variety of applications, including the production of impellers and turbine blades, cutting tools, ports and inlets, as well as the machining of aerospace structural parts, rubber molds, patterns and models, medical implants, and deep cavity molds.
Although 5-axis technology has been in use since the 1980’s, several market trends are driving an increasing number of manufacturers to step up and adopt the technology these days.

CIMdata, Inc. prepared this Summary Product Review as an independent and unbiased assessment of the functional capabilities of CimatronE Version 8, a CAD/CAM software product developed by Cimatron Ltd. CimatronE is a registered trademark of Cimatron. This evaluation is one in a series of software product reviews produced by CIMdata, a worldwide consulting and marketing research firm. CIMdata has authorized Cimatron to reproduce and distribute this document, without constraints from CIMdata.

Knowledge Management caters to the critical issues of organizational adaptation, survival and competence in face of increasingly discontinuous environmental change. Essentially, it symbolizes organizational processes that seek interactive combination of data and information processing capacity of information technologies, and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings. An effective Knowledge Management System (KMS) is the key to future success.

After talking with our customers at engineering firms serving the commercial HVAC market, we discovered they use PIPE-FLO® primarily when adding to or troubleshooting existing HVAC piping systems. Much to our surprise, the majority of our customers in this market continue to use their Excel® spreadsheets when designing new systems. We decided to investigate a little further, why these users chose this route.

Numerous authors have documented efforts over the past two decades to understand the complex behavior of laminated composite structures under transient loading conditions. These efforts were made to identify and characterize the relevant failure mechanisms, to understand their interactions, and to be able to predict the extent of damage within a given composite system under a set of specified loading conditions. These studies identify some parameters as basic design parameters, i.e. material parameter (matrix, reinforcement and interfaces between layers), stacking sequence, laminate thickness, striker geometry.

“The FARO Laser Tracker’s ability to provide real-time measurements directly against the CAD data enables engineers to instantly visualize deviations from the nominal. The Tracker has dramatically reduced the time required to certify large parts, tooling and machinery while also resulting in substantial quality improvements.”

Daher model the majority of their system using standard Flowmaster components. For complex duct geometries Daher were able to use several Flowmaster components connected together to represent the characteristics of the physical component.

BAE Systems is a $31-billion global aerospace and defense manufacturer. The London-based company produces civil and military aircraft, air-defense systems, guided weapons, ordnance, ships and aerospace electronics. It is also a leading provider
of simulation and training solutions.

It is a well known fact that CAD software vendors use their proprietary file formats to lock users into using their software. Parametric solid modeling systems make it impossible for their solid models to be worked upon in another parametric system without losing parametric information.

Bombardier Aerospace, based in Montreal, Canada is a world leader in the design and manufacture of innovative aviation products and services for the regional, business and amphibious aircraft markets. In 2004 it began a project to replace its existing Unix-based CAM/nesting system, which had not improved in nesting efficiency for some time. Bombardier Aerospace embarked on benchmarking several systems.

Kind AG, based in Gummersbach, near Cologne in Germany were experiencing performance bottlenecks with their previous method of producing programs, and targeted this area for improvement. Across their two sites, three different CAM systems were in operation. None of the operators each knew all of the CAM systems, causing problems when staff were away. Also, if a machine broke down, major work would be required to re-program a job for another machine.

The Pinnacle (formerly known as the DIFA Bishopsgate development) will be a 63 storey landmark building in London. It will join The Gherkin, Tower 42, Heron Tower, and 122 Leadenhall St to form a distinctive cluster of tall buildings in the City.

Challenge :
Occasionally you can communicate more clearly by hiding certain elements of your assembly. In Autodesk Inventor an assembly may be displayed with the visibility of some components ‘turned off.’ There’s more than one way to accomplish this task. In this demonstration we use View Representations to create a viewing state that easily and consistently can be applied across several views of a drawing.
Solution :
To view a video that describes how to link design views in a drawing visit : http://video.ketivtech.com/TechTips/InventorViewReps.wmv

Ra Workshop Standard is the basic windows and doors production software edition. It has all the production reports but is limited to compute only rectangular windows and doors.Also, Ra Workshop Standard Edition does not include cutting optimization.

The Dutch printer manufacturer Océ has its headquarters for production printing systems in Poing before the gates of Munich. Research and development, production, quality assurance, training, sales and service are grouped together at this site. Printing systems for internal and external use are developed and manufactured here.

The Museum’s storage and service areas are partially underground, beneath the Tuileries Garden. The artwork delivery area is the scene of a constant flow of heavy goods vehicles arriving to deliver paintings and sculptures for future exhibitions or intermuseum exchanges.

For decades, traditional touch probes on coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) have been the gold standard by which parts have been inspected and verified. However, this time-consuming process becomes an even bigger drain on a quality department’s valuable resources as the parts it is charged with inspecting contain increasingly complex free-form surfaces that take an exponentially longer time to thoroughly inspect.

Top-100 automotive supplier Kautex relies on Metris XC50-LS Cross Scanner on LK CMM to verify the production quality of composite fuel tanks. Kautex engineers set up and execute automatic measurement routines that speed up the serial inspection process for fuel tank by 30%. Incorporating three lasers in a cross pattern, the scanners capture the finest details of freeform surfaces and critical geometric features in one go. The insight gained by automatically digitizing fuel tanks and generating graphic Focus reports enables Kautex to tackle problems that were hard to solve in the past.

WarmSpring attic heat recovery system takes a practical approach to exploiting low-grade heat from a seasonally hot attic. Working with the combination of an attic ventilation fan with a compact air-to-water heat exchanger, designer Chris Roseberry of Garland, Texas uses Alibre Design Professional to improve access to a valuable source of heat.

With recession looming large and American industry and jobs taking hits every day, you don't hear many success stories. Americans don't sit on their heels and do nothing, so the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sponsored a video contest called 'I am Free Enterprise' and asked anyone who owns a business to sign up, make a YouTube video and submit it for a chance to up to $100,000 dollars in prize money.

St. George, Utah, -established in 1991 in Salt Lake City, Hilton Engineering Inc. is now open for business in St. George. Ralph Hilton, President and founder of Hilton Engineering, along with senior engineering partner, Richard Somers, are changing their focus to serve the residential custom home design industry. Working together professionally for over 15 years, they review customer home designs for compliance to 2006 International Residential Code (IRC) and provide stamped engineering calculations for house plans. They also design commercial buildings and structures in other areas of Utah. To do this they use Alibre Design Professional 3D CAD software.

Santa Fe, New Mexico has long been the center of art, architecture and culture and it is estimated that one in six residents is employed by the art industry; including painters, sculptors, photographers, framers, curators, foundry workers, and art dealers. Now, that artistic flare & design prowess extends into the neo-gothic world of custom motorcycle builders at Truly Blessed Customs.

In America today, the term downsizing strikes fear and uncertainty in all, unless you happen to build scale engine models. Last April at the North American Model Engineering Society Trade Expo in Toledo, Ohio, attendees were treated to a seminar on 3D CAD for model engineers by Mike Rehmus, Editor of Model Engine Builder. For the past three years Mike has attended the show and been a featured presenter at their seminars. His tool of choice is Alibre Design, which he hands out on disks to the audience members so they can take a copy home and see the benefits of using professional, affordable 3D CAD.

MTS Systems Corp. is using SolidWorks(R) 3D CAD software to more efficiently design, configure, and assemble the testing products it develops for customers across a broad range of industries. MTS products include road simulators for automobiles, earthquake simulators for buildings, frame testers for aircraft, wear testers for biomedical devices, and a variety of sensors.

The Vermeer Manufacturing Company is a global leader in the manufacture of machinery and equipment for agricultural, tree-clearing, and excavating purposes. For many years, the company used the AutoCAD® 2D CAD package to design its products. However, increasing competition, the need to bring products to market faster, and a desire to improve product aesthetics prompted the company’s Engineering Group to evaluate 3D CAD systems in 1998, according to Karl Maasdam, a Vermeer applications specialist.

Best Buy Company, Inc., is the premier consumer electronics retailer in the United States. Growing at a fast rate, the company needed a software solution to provide photorealistic renderings for conceptual evaluation as well as final engineering drawings for production.

The Cooperative OUTBOARD Logistics Update (COBLU) system is an upgrade of OUTBOARD countermeasures
detection and analysis system currently deployed on U.S. and British Royal Navy ships. OUTBOARD is a
shipboard radio signal detection, acquisition, data management and direction finding system which provides
early warning and targeting of surface ships. The enhanced COBLU system features advanced methods of
detecting, sorting and tracking hostile emitters to provide intelligence indication and warning.

Aerojet and Pratt & Whitney were contracted to design and test a new booster for NASA's Space Launch
Initiative. One engine design was the Co-Optimized Booster for Reusable Applications (COBRA), a liquid
hydrogen/liquid oxygen engine designed to fire with 600,000 pounds of thrust.

Alliant Techsystems, Inc. (ATK) was under contract to develop a prototype lightweight aircraft radar structure,
manufactured entirely from advanced composite materials. ATA Engineering, Inc. (ATA) provided key analysis
support for a fast-approaching Critical Design Review (CDR) by performing a variety of advanced structural
analyses required to validate the design. Presentation materials and a final detailed stress report were
provided to ATK to support the CDR. After CDR, a highly detailed solid element model of a very complex
region of the structure was created to provide greater insight into the load distribution in the area and verify
the design at that location.

A Boeing 747SP aircraft has been modified by L-3 Communications Integrated Systems to accommodate a 2.5 meter
reflecting telescope as part of the SOFIA program. SOFIA, which will be the largest airborne observatory in the world, is
a collaborative effort of NASA and the DLR, German Aerospace Center. This flying observatory is being developed and
operated for NASA by a team of industry experts led by the Universities Space Research Association (USRA).

Altrust Precision Tooling Co. Ltd., is one of the top 10 mold manufacturers in Asia and is ISO-certified. For more than 15 years the company has been specializing in product design, mold making, machining, assembly, and prototyping.

Regulations for occupant safety were introduced in the 90s for the enhancement of the occupant protection and the reduction of occupants’ injuries and fatalities. Since then, occupant-friendly design influences the styling and the engineering of the vehicle interiors.

Matrix Tooling (Wood Dale, Ill.) has a three-pronged approach to compete in the
shrinking domestic tooling market: focus on challenging jobs, offer more value to its
customers and leverage technology. Its latest endeavor, adding Cross-Sectional
Scanning for first article inspection services, has enabled Matrix to achieve all three
goals.

As part of a continuing collaboration with Thomson Reuters, a CFD model of a data centre was built by CHAM’s Consultancy Team to analyze the cooling effectiveness of a proposed installation of high density computer cabinets. Different cooling strategies were investigated, with the objective of near-uniform operational temperatures across all cabinets.

The latest product of Turbine Technologies Ltd (Chitek, WI) is the PT-50 Tuboshaft Engine for UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). To make sure the practical problem of manufacturing physical components does not become a bottleneck for engineering throughput, the company recently invested in some advanced simultaneous 5-axis machining equipment and Mastercam software.

"Power Through Precision” is the company motto at MBE Cylinder Heads and Manifolds. MBE achieves both precision and power by using Delcam’s PowerSHAPE design software and its PowerMILL machining program.

NC programmers at die manufacturer EXCO are now phasing out several different brands of CAM software in favour of the flexibility and capability of Delcam’s PowerMILL CAM system. This decision followed a six-month evaluation of products from six leading CAM developers to determine how they could help EXCO achieve its goals in boosting productivity and quality.

Throughout its history, efficiency and innovation have been core drivers of Ioxus Inc.’s business. Ioxus develops, manufactures and distributes ultracapacitor technologies for a wide range of energy storage markets.

MCD Racing is the world leader in producing 1/5 scale four wheel drive (4WD) radiocontrolled (RC) model racing cars. The company produced the world’s first 4WD 1/5 scalecar, the first 1/5 shaft driven RC car and the world’s only valved shock absorbers.

Producing a single product for both recreational use in backyards as well as intense battle simulation on military bases is a daily order of business for one Indiana-based company. Father/son-founded Tiberius Arms specializes in the design, development, and manufacture of advanced pneumatic weapons with an emphasis on "less-lethal" solutions for police, military, and security agencies – as well as the recreational paintball market.

Indian Springs Manufacturing Company, Inc. has a long history of helping businesses move forward through design and manufacturing. Based in Baldwinsville, NY, Indian Springs is a contract manufacturing company specializing in CNC machining and manufacturing.Indian Springs Manufacturing Company, Inc. 3D Prototype For more than 60 years, Indian Springs has provided precision, high-quality machined parts to a wide variety of customers throughout the Syracuse and central/western New York region.

Monsanto applies innovation and technology to help farmers around the world be
more successful, produce healthier foods, better animal feeds, while also reducing
agriculture's impact on the environment.

Amlin is a leading independent insurer
operating in the Lloyd's, UK, Europe and
Bermudian markets. Amlin provides
insurance cover to commercial enterprises
and reinsurance protection to other
insurance companies around the world.

Since 1997, O'Brien Engineered Products has focused on the development of new products for emerging technologies. The company offers engineering and design services including design enhancement, prototype assembly, feasibility studies, quality checks on existing designs, ANSI (Section 156.xx) cycle testing, short run assembly, and research and development.

Hilco is the largest spectacle frame repairer in the UK, operating under a dual branding of Hilco and National Frame Repairers. The companies are a part of Hilsinger Corporation, the leading designer and provider of consumer optical accessories, professional optical tools and related products in the USA and the UK. With a turnover of $65m it sells to a large customer base that includes opticians, optometrists, retail optical chains, sporting goods retailers and independent distributors throughout North America and Europe.

Wellman Furnaces design and supply specialised furnaces, new furnaces, furnace re-engineering, spares and automated furnace systems and has gained a reputation as a builder of custom-designed plant. This ability is based on the expertise gained from its wide range of reference installations in many industries and the diverse furnace companies that now constitute Wellman Furnaces.

The McAvoy Group is Northern Ireland’s largest portable building manufacturer with a customer base extending to the United Kingdom and Europe. Jackleg cabins are available in a variety of sizes, and can be fitted-out for ticket kiosks, offices, temporary kitchens and toilet units.

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) is one of the three leading classification societies in the world. It was founded in 1862 and
has promoted maritime safety from its beginning. ABS serves the public interest as well as the needs of its clients by promoting
the security of life, property and the natural environment primarily through the development and verification of standards for
the design, construction and operational maintenance of marine-related facilities. These standards are known as Rules.

GW’s Columbian College has an Undergraduate Advising Department dedicated to advancing the academic, professional, and
personal development of its students. Toward that effort, Department advisors rely on transcripts for critical information such as
the student’s current class load, past academic performance, and any previous notes made by the advisor.

The issue of production format in eDiscovery has long been discussed, argued and downright misunderstood. Historically,
attorneys produced documents in paper form or electronically in TIFF or Adobe® PDF format. Even documents that originated
electronically were often either printed and re-scanned or batch-converted to TIFF or PDF.

The process of redaction evokes images of legal teams gathered along large conference tables surrounded by boxes stroking black permanent markers across brittle documents, while assistants shuttle between photocopiers and bates stamping machines to prevent an adversary from spotting a privileged smoking gun. In fact, a recent survey of law firms across the United States revealed that 74 percent of those law firms taking the survey still perform redaction manually while only 44 percent now employ technology to protect privileged information.

Today’s technology has made it easier than ever to share and access data. Email, high speed internet, blogging and other social networks and neutral formats like PDF make it easy to share content anywhere, anytime. Even when you would rather not.

Specialising in the power generation and aerospace industries, and making complex components including gas turbine and landing gear parts, Bromford Industries as its head office in Birmingham and has acquired a further five companies in the same sector, with the aim of becoming a major high technology supplier to the industry. Working in collaboration with its customers, it has a wide range of quality approvals and extensive machining capabilities, enabling it to operate worldwide and provide whole life support for the products it supplies.

The town of Tamworth, Staffordshire; is not only known for its historic merits; but also for its engineering and manufacturing industry. Here the engineer and sports car racer John Moore founded in 1984 Alcon Components Limited. The company has gained a worldwide reputation for manufacturing and supplying high specification brake components and clutches to motorsport and for high performance road vehicles.

Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBC) have been used for almost three decades for heat insulation in high-temperature components to increase efficiency. Reliable diagnostic techniques that are practical to implement are needed to identify the location and severity of degradation in TBCs to protect against premature TBC failure. Luminescence spectroscopy has been utilized in detecting early damage, as it exhibits monotonic changes in the spectral characteristics with damage. Nevertheless there is still no agreement on what are the best spectral parameters that indicate damage. A new Finite Element model is presented, which is used to make realistic predictions of TBC lifetime, from as-manufactured to critically damaged. The aim of the modelling is to accurately incorporate all observed behaviour for a specific coating while retaining computational feasibility. To simulate damage accumulation and delamination the finite element model has been used to run several thermal cycles during which nucleation, propagation and coalescence of cracks is incorporated. A variety of cracking scenarios have been studied. The stress field of the oxide layer determined by the finite element model is subsequently converted into luminescence spectrum. Each stress level is represented by a Gaussian-Lorentzian shape function and by adding all the different stresses within the probed volume, the whole spectrum is obtained. The predicted luminescence spectrum for several cracks is used to identify characteristic spectral features that can be employed to predict TBC lifetime.

Structures in general are subject to uncertainty due to manufacturing, assembly, environment of work, loads, etc … This scatter more specifically is associated for example to tolerances of thickness, position, waviness, etc, material mechanical properties distribution, layup alignment axes. All these deviations can be taken into account with stochastic analysis to reduce the total cost of the project considering all the phases of product life (manufacturing, assembly, maintainability…) and make a global robust design.
The problem of optimization of composites structures can be addressed in spite of high number of design variables (angles, thickness, lay-up…), failure modes (buckling, strains, cohesive material…), and taking into account the previously mentioned scatter by means of iSight and Abaqus.
Analyses about the tolerances influence (material mechanical properties, thickness, waviness, layup alignment axes…) in the critical buckling results of a stiffened curved composite panel have been developed.
The tolerances whose values, in spite of complying with the aeronautical industry current design criteria, generate significant changes in the critical results are identified. On the other hand, the tolerances with very low influences in the critical failure modes are obtained, making possible therefore a cost reduction.
The use of these technologies allows finding improved structures, without an increase of manufacturing non conformities associated with highly optimized structures, and with similar analysis times.

Turon’s methodology for determining optimal analysis parameters for the simulation of progressive delamination is reviewed. Recommended procedures for determining analysis parameters for efficient delamination growth predictions using the Abaqus/Standard cohesive element and relatively coarse meshes are provided for single and mixed-mode loading. The Abaqus cohesive element, COH3D8, and a user-defined cohesive element are used to develop finite element models of the double cantilever beam specimen, the end-notched flexure specimen, and the mixed-mode bending specimen to simulate progressive delamination growth in Mode I, Mode II, and mixed-mode fracture, respectively. The predicted responses are compared with their analytical solutions. The results show that for single-mode fracture, the predicted responses obtained with the Abaqus cohesive element correlate well with the analytical solutions. For mixed-mode fracture, it was found that the response predicted using COH3D8 elements depends on the damage evolution criterion that is used. The energy-based criterion overpredicts the peak loads and load-deflection response. The results predicted using a tabulated form of the BK criterion correlate well with the analytical solution and with the results predicted with the user-written element.

An analysis of the crippling test applied to thin profiles is considered in this paper by using a standard tension test machine. Crippling tests are compression tests leading to crush collapse. This kind of tests cannot be properly performed in the standard test machine because of an inefficient transmission of the compression load to the specimen. To accomplish a more accurate test an improvement device is designed and modelled. This proposed device consists of four symmetrically-arranged guides joining the two machine heads. The head rotation is thus avoided during the test and the compression load is transmitted to the profile without introducing bending effects through the heads. In order to show the advantage of the new design, the two cases (with and without the guides) have been analysed with Abaqus and compared one to another. The test results are also presented for the initial machine. The numerical model includes heads, potting, clamps and a C-shaped profile as specimen. This one is a carbon fibre composite modelled as an orthotropic elastic material. It results from the analysis that the proposed design provides more accurate values for the critical loads in the crippling test.

An Abaqus/Standard FEA based study was carried out to develop a structural format for a wing sail used on a sailing boat, V-39 Albatross. As well as providing a novel structural solution to meet a challenging set of requirements, the study has given the necessary mass properties and stiffness data required to further progress the preliminary design phase of the overall boat.
The brief for the boat is to set a new world outright sailing speed record at Portland, UK. The choice of location influences the overall concept from the outset, since the conditions are closer to real world conditions when compared to currently favored locations for speed sailing. The boat is configured to add at least 10 knots to the current record by setting a speed above 60 knots (111 km/h). At speed the boat hulls will fly above the surface using a wing in ground effect. The pilot is able to sail on both port and starboard tack and can actively control the craft in roll and height as well as yaw.
The boat has two handed wing-sails to give both lift and power. Each wing-sail is split into an inner and outer plank. Each plank is free to rotate or ‘weathercock’ about its longitudinal axis into the local air stream. The degree of lift generated by a given plank is set by controlling the upward deflection of a full trailing edge flap. This approach brings an essential weight saving benefit when compared to the conventional approach of adopting a tail surface to provide stability and control; this would necessitate the addition of four booms, tail surfaces and additional counterweights, one for each plank. The overall CG position of the boat is paramount to its stability and control and would not allow this additional structure.
The ‘tailless’ aerodynamic approach adopted gives rise to a profound structural problem. A wing type structure would typically have a very different in-plane and perpendicular flexural stiffness. This causes the direction of deflection to differ from the direction of applied wing lift. This effect results in a shifting of the centre of lift and causes the outer plank to exert unwanted moments about the axis of rotation to the inner plank. This prevents satisfactory plank stability and control.
The structure developed includes a main tubular carbon fiber spar holding the bearing housings as well as carrying the wing-sail bending and shear loads. The surrounding structure including ribs, skin and secondary spars gives each plank its form and carries local aerodynamic loads into the main spar. However, this additional structure has been partially decoupled from the main spar to prevent it from increasing the flexural stiffness of the main spar in the plane of the plank. The resultant structure has near axisymmetric properties and therefore mimics a purely tubular structure.
Composite modeling techniques used are of a macroscopic nature, i.e. composite lay-ups are represented using thick conventional shells. Angular contact bearings are defined within the interaction module and their weight represented through a concentrated force at the control point. The plank Mylar skins are tensioned by applying a temperature predefined field and including an expansion (contraction) step.

The relationships between a resistance curve (R-curve), the corresponding fracture process zone length, the shape of the traction/displacement softening law, and the propagation of fracture are examined in the context of the through-the-thickness fracture of composite laminates. A procedure that accounts for R-curve toughening mechanisms by superposing bilinear cohesive elements is proposed. Simple equations are developed for determining the separation of the critical energy release rates and the strengths that define the independent contributions of each bilinear softening law in the superposition. It is shown that the R-curve measured with a Compact Tension specimen test can be reproduced by superposing two bilinear softening laws. It is also shown that an accurate representation of the R-curve is essential for predicting the initiation and propagation of fracture in composite laminates.

This research involves a failure analysis of the internal structural collapse that occurred in World Trade Center 5 due to fire exposure alone on September 11, 2001. It is hypothesized that the steel column-tree assembly failed during the heating phase of the fire. Abaqus/Standard was used to predict the structural performance of the assembly when exposed to the fire. Results from a finite element, thermal-stress model confirms this hypothesis, for it is concluded that the catastrophic, progressive structural collapse occurred approximately 2 hours into the fire exposure.

Conical piles of granular solids can be found in many industrial sites. These piles are usually progressively formed by depositing from above. A classic question concerning such simple piles is the observation that the pressure distribution beneath the pile shows a marked local minimum beneath the apex which is counter-intuitive as this should be the location expected to have the maximum pressure. Numerous experimental, analytical and computational studies have been conducted to investigate this classical problem over the last few decades, but a comprehensive understanding of the problem remains elusive. A number of recent finite element simulations of the pile have considered the effects of construction history, plasticity and stressdependence of modulus of the granular solids. Whilst a pressure dip beneath the apex has been predicted, significant uncertainties remain about the effects of these factors on the pressure dip and their interaction.
This paper presents the finite element modelling of a conical stockpile using Abaqus. The effect of construction history was realized by simulating the progressive formation of the conical pile. This was achieved by discretising the final geometry of the stockpile into multiple conical layers and then activating each layer sequentially. The effects of the elastic and plastic parameters were explored. The results show that a pressure dip may or may not be predicted depending on the constitutive model and the values for the model parameters. The study also shows that modelling the conical pile in one single step does not produce the pressure dip. It further shows that the central pressure dip is predicted using a relatively small number of layers and the magnitude of the dip is not sensitive to increasing number of layers, which is in contrast with one previous study.

Oblique elastic impact of spheres and the related case for cylinders have been studied cases for many years in simulations of systems with loose supports, such as heat exchanger tube-support interaction, as well as granular flows and robotic task modeling. The problem is a relative simple one in the class of transient frictional contact problems in that the stresses away from the contact zone are typically neglected. The available continuum model solutions from literature show some very interesting features. For near normal angles of incidence, these solutions combine a Hertzian contact stress solution in the normal direction with a partial-slip shear stress distribution in the tangential direction, in which a central portion of the contact zone is sticking while the coincident points of the outer annulus slide relative to one another. Both stress distributions change rapidly over the impact duration. The partial-slip shear stress distribution is caused by the simultaneous inclusion of tangential compliance and friction effects, and gives rise to tangential force reversal prior to the loss of contact. Initial investigations using the penalty contact formulation in Abaqus/ExplicitTM v. 6.7 show some very interesting results. Both the normal and shear stress results show smooth distributions, however the shear stress distributions show an unexpected antisymmetry. Nevertheless, the Abaqus/ExplicitTM solution is able to capture the essential features of tangential force oscillation predicted by continuum models.

The automotive and heavy-duty industries are heavy users of Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) for development, design and performance optimization of their products. As a technology driven company, the Sealing Products Group of Dana Holding Corporation utilizes this technology extensively, especially for metal cylinder head gaskets (CHG) and exhaust gaskets,
so called Multi-Layer-Steel (MLS) gaskets. Due to the widespread involvement of complex contact interactions in high fidelity sealing system analysis, high performance computing is essential to accelerating the design process, thus meeting aggressive time and cost to market requirements.
Since the release of Abaqus version 6.6 a major step forward was made through the extensive and effective use of parallel computing. The combination of flexible computing clusters and the power
of parallel processing enabled by SIMULIA resulted in significant time and cost savings for Dana when using the Abaqus engineering software package. It also allowed for the implementation of new simulation techniques for contact simulations. This allowed for better and more accurate upfront prediction of sealing technology.
This paper provides an overview on accelerated simulation performance studies utilizing the latest SIMULIA technology for advanced sealing application from the Sealing Products Group of Dana Holding Corp. Furthermore it provides an outlook of steps to come.

The use of iSight to automate Inergy's simulations related to automotive plastic fuel tank development is highlighted by three examples: 1. the static venting simulation, where the low added value part (finding the position of valves on the tank so that the customer's specifications are fulfilled) is automated. This allows the expert to focus on higher added value tasks. 2. the tank aging simulation, which consists in computing the permanent deformation of the fuel tank caused by the plastic creep. ISight permits to easily investigate different tank architectures at early stage of development. 3. the blow molding simulation is simplified so that non-simulation specialists are able to run it. This eases the access to simulation for technical experts.

In the quest to lower environmental impact while maintaining vehicle performance, automakers and aerospace companies are knocking on the same door – that is, increasing use of composite materials in order to reduce structural mass. It can be expected that material costs will drop considerably over the next few to several years, as the capacity to produce such materials begins to catch up with the growing demand. The benefits of using these materials are well-documented, including their substantial capacity to absorb energy in an impact scenario.
Composite structures generally behave much differently than their metallic equivalents in a crash event when subjected to large compressive and dynamic forces. Whereas a metal structure will typically undergo large plastic deformations to absorb the kinetic energy of the event, a well-engineered composite member subjected to large axial compression will pulverize in a progressive manner from one end to the other as the “crush front” moves along its length. The crush front is characterized by numerous microscopic interactions between fiber and matrix, and efficient energy absorption can be achieved when the moving crush front becomes essentially a continuous event, traversing steadily along the length of the composite member. However, it is also this type of crushing failure which can prove difficult to simulate using
conventional finite element methods.
CZone technology has been developed to bridge the gap between experimental observations regarding a material’s ability to absorb energy in an impact and the need to understand complex structural interaction and stability in a largerscale crash event. CZone technology is being incorporated as an add-on product for Abaqus/Explicit in order to provide a predictive capability for composite crush scenarios—the CZone functionality handles the material’s behavior at the crush front, while the damage and failure models in Abaqus/Explicit address the integrity of the backup structure.
This paper will demonstrate the technology in action on some automotive scale structures and will identify the additional material characterization required to successfully predict their performance in crash.

Mercury Marine outboards, engines, and drives are designed to withstand indoor impact testing (called “logstrike”) that simulates a collision with an underwater object. This test is comprised of an outboard or sterndrive device mounted on a mock boat that collides with a simulated log.
Many parts are designed with the arduous logstrike test in mind. However, it is difficult to approximate the loads each part experiences during logstrike because of the complex and dynamic nature of the event. For this reason Mercury Marine R&D created a project to develop a capability for predicting the motion and loads of a logstrike event. A staged approach consisting of progressively sophisticated Abaqus/Explicit numerical simulations, validated by physical testing, was used to work towards successful simulation of the full logstrike event. This newly developed method is beginning to support product development programs and assist Mercury Marine engineers in designing components with more knowledge about the loads they must withstand. The method also enables the evaluation of designs without the need for physical parts. This provides the opportunity for better product integrity with reduced design time.

Transient dynamic simulations gain importance in the automotive industry and modern fatigue postprocessors are apt to evaluate the fatigue damage. However, additional insight into a structure’s behaviour may be obtained from observing the displacements. Displacement patterns are important for design engineers in order to improve the structure. With proportional static loads it is trivial to display and understand the displacements, but the displacements in dynamic simulations are often very complicated. This paper describes a novel method for visualising the transient displacements of mode-based analyses. Based on the modal displacements a new simple, yet fatigue equivalent, modal displacement is computed and visualized instead. Applications from commercial vehicles are used as examples.

Over the past three years, BMW has undertaken a significant project to first investigate, then proceed with migration from its present crash simulation software to ABAQUS. This project has been motivated by a growing recognition within BMW that, in order to advance its crash simulation methods, improved robustness in the software employed, along with a greater emphasis on physically-motivated simulation capabilities, are required. This paper documents the processes that have been undertaken for the migration project, from the very early stages, up through to the present point where ABAQUS is being used exclusively in a substantial pilot project to design the crashworthiness aspects of a new BMW automobile. The paper also documents some ABAQUS advantages already becoming evident for crash simulation, along with some particular ABAQUS simulation results demonstrating its advanced capabilities for modeling failure mechanisms.

An analysis of bridge roller bearings was performed using Abaqus as part of a failure investigation. Finite element analyses were conducted to gain an understanding of the stresses caused during operation and explain the possible cause of failure. Models of the bearings were required to represent the contact between the roller and plates, daily movement of the load and the non-linear behaviour of the material. An important output was prediction of residual stresses along the contact area of the rollers, induced by repeated rolling as the bridge expands due to daily and seasonal temperature cycles.
Linear kinematic and non-linear isotropic/kinematic models available in Abaqus were used to model the material behaviour, both of which predicted significant tensile stresses at the roller surface that did not match experimental observations. Further, this tensile residual stress remained when the bearing load was reduced below that required to induce plasticity. Surprisingly, the residual stresses remained even when purely elastic material was used and were found to steadily increase in magnitude with further cycling. The cause of these spurious stresses is believed to be due to numerical modelling of the material combined with incremental analysis in Abaqus.
A new finite-elastic, finite-plastic (Fe-Fp) material model recently developed by Abaqus was used successfully to reduce this stress. However, at the time the analysis was performed it was only available for use with isotropic hardening, and was therefore inappropriate for modelling situations involving cyclic plasticity where kinematic effects are important. Due to the need to simulate rolling contact, geometric nonlinearity (NLGEOM option) had to be used. Caution must therefore be exercised when performing nonlinear analyses involving cyclic plasticity with geometric nonlinearity.

In 2006 BMW made a decision to use Abaqus/Explicit for all issues concerning passive safety in the virtual design process. Code quality and reliability of simulation results were identified as the primary reasons to change, and from that decision point forward, all product development teams began migration activities to switch to Abaqus/Explicit.
Meanwhile, the entire vehicle design and development process within BMW began to undergo fundamental changes, from one which previously incorporated key milestones involving physical prototypes, to one which seeks to largely eliminate physical prototypes and associated physical tests. Nowadays, BMW design engineers will get the first feedback from physical tests only after the series production tools have been manufactured. Therefore, design changes at that point will be extremely expensive. Furthermore, no physical test results will be available to calibrate and improve finite element models of virtual crash cars in the earlier phases of the development process. So predictiveness is now the most important criterion for BMW’s passive safety simulation.
Because of these fundamental changes to BMW’s development process, BMW established a new benchmark for crash solvers in 2009 in order to evaluate in detail the quality of simulation results. This paper intends to demonstrate some of the capabilities of Abaqus/Explicit for crashworthiness and occupant safety, with a strong focus on predictiveness and reliability. These factors are prerequisites for an efficient, cost-effective vehicle development process that relies less and less on physical prototypes and testing. And it explains why BMW has now reconfirmed the earlier decision to use Abaqus/Explicit for its crashworthiness and occupant safety simulation.

Fatigue life prediction has reached a high level in respect to practical handling and accuracy in the last decades. As a result of insecure or lacking input data deviations between numerical results and test results in terms of cycles till crack initiation are possible. On the one hand, the accuracy of Finite Element results gets better and better because of greatly increasing computer power and mesh density. Whereas on the other hand, the situation is much more critical regarding load data and especially regarding local material properties of the components.
In the last few years also the possibilities of process simulation have improved in such, that at least a few local material properties or quality indicators can be predicted with sufficient reliability.
Both simulation technologies represent a current state of the art. Therefore it is reasonable to integrate the results of process simulation into fatigue analysis to improve the accuracy of fatigue life prediction. For forming simulation of steel sheet-metal as well as for sand and die casting of aluminum and magnesium this integration has recently been realized.
As an output of forming simulation the effective plastic strain can be used as an indicator for local material parameters. Also the distribution of the sheet metal thickness can be analyzed and used for stress analysis in Abaqus as well as the final fatigue analysis in FEMFAT.
With today’s cast simulation tools distributions of local material parameters can be predicted. Furthermore the secondary dendrite arm spacing correlates significantly with porosity and endurance limit. For die casting, a pore free surface layer can be accounted for.

Skid a full vehicle against a curb in lateral and longitudinal direction are two out of several tests to proof the strength of a suspension. Knowing the internal forces acting on suspension components during such an event is extremely important for being able to dimension safety critical parts correctly. Measuring these loads is an elaborate task, because the use of wheel force transducers is not possible due the risk of damaging them. It is necessary to apply strain gauges and force cells instead.
Therefore the possibility of a fully virtual approach using Abaqus/Explicit would be of great value. A Mc Pherson front suspension has been used as an example to demonstrate :
• Retrieving internal suspension forces
• Verifying the "Chain of Failure"
for a STUDY to virtually "Skid a Vehicle against a Curb" in longitudinal direction. Correlation with actual force measurements will reveal the potential as well as the restrictions of using such an approach for load prediction and verification.
Furthermore an attempt will be made to transfer the full vehicle impact tests / simulations to suspension level testing. Both a suspension impact rig as well as a simple static suspension strength rig will be set up in the real and the virtual world.

Product development is becoming more complex. It involves not only system simulation requirements, but also the need to manage and share huge amounts of engineering information that is housed throughout the world. It quickly becomes complex when getting into detailed system simulation for powertrain applications such as sealing products.
Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) has played a major role in development, design, and performance optimization for those applications for a long time. Due to the complexity of the current simulation environment and the need to expand simulation to the whole engineering process, including manufacturing, new analytical tools are required to support development, virtual testing, and decision-making. The sheer complexity requires a new approach to the engineering process. The PLM (Product Life Cycle Management) as we know it will look completely different in the future. We believe that in a simulation-driven engineering business, SLM (Simulation Life Cycle Management) plays a central role.
In this paper we use the processes for cylinder head gaskets (CHG) and material data input management as examples of how SIMULIA SLM provides us with more consistency, accuracy and faster turnaround times through easier, coordinated information flow and access. Using 3D-Live capabilities enables us to provide an easy-to-use environment to make simulation information available to non-CAE users, like engineering management, to support decision-making.

Snow traction is an important tire performance parameter for product applications in markets where snow is present for several months during the year. It is very difficult to perform multiple tests because proving grounds and consistent test conditions are available only for limited periods of time and due to prototyping and test expense. This paper deals with the simulation aspects of the snow traction test using Abaqus. The first part of this paper describes the chosen test method and offers a review of the available simulation technology. A modeling methodology for realistic snow interaction is examined using small-scale simulations, in order to evaluate its applicability to snow traction simulations. Next, simulations of snow traction are developed for a tire rolling over a snow surface. The tire models employ fine-resolution tread patterns so that a better approximation is obtained to the real-world event of tire/snow interaction. Physical phenomena such as snow shear, digging and friction are taken into account by an adaptive-explicit FEA. The proposed analytical procedure is validated through comparison with test data.

A preliminary model of shaving has been constructed using the ABAQUS/Explicit solver. It consists of a single hair mounted on a block of bi-layered skin, across which a razor traverses. Modelling features include (1) deformable and non-deformable contact boundary conditions between the razor, skin and hair, (2) material moduli ranging over seven orders of magnitude and (3) infinite elements to simulate far-field boundary conditions. The skin material properties are described using a large strain, viscoelastic material model, based on experimental test data. Current work is focussing on the modelling of hair cutting. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the problems associated with developing a physiological model and the hurdles faced in simulating hair cutting with the ABAQUS/Explicit solver.

The work presented in this paper details the development of a finite element (FE) model of a soccer ball, allowing for a greater understanding of the performance of soccer balls under dynamic conditions that are representative of play. The model consists of composite shell elements that include a hyperelastic strain energy potential equation to define the latex bladder layer and a plane stress orthotropic elastic material model to define the anisotropic woven fabric outer panels. The model was validated through a series of experimental tests whereby the ball was impacted normal to a rigid plate at an inbound velocity of approximately 34 ms-1 (76 mph), with each impact recorded using high speed video (HSV) techniques. It was found that the combined effects of ball design and panel material anisotropy caused impact properties such as impact
contact time, deformation, and the 2D shape taken up by the ball at maximum deformation, to vary with pre-impact ball orientation. The model showed good agreement with the experimental measurements and was able to represent the effects of anisotropy in ball design.

People are less likely to wear hearing protection that is uncomfortable. The overall comfort of the hearing protection is therefore a primary design feature. Methods for evaluating comfort typically include production and use testing of physical prototypes which are expensive and time consuming which reduces the number of design options to test. This work demonstrates the use of computer modeling to predict wearer discomfort by modeling the interaction between ear protection devices and the human ear.
Obtaining an optimal comfort design is challenging because of large variations in human ear shape and complicated material behavior in both ear canal and ear plug. Generating a set of human ear models required the use of large and small scale 3D scanning technologies to create geometries representing both external and internal structures. Multiple material layers were used to approximate the actual layers in the region.
The model simulated the insertion and stress relaxation of the hearing protection devices. Results from these models were compared against discomfort measured in use. The model results show that discomfort is a function of contact pressure and area. Average contact pressure and total contact force were identified as the key metrics that correlate to comfort ratings from the use studies.

Origami is the art of paper folding. Our entire range of packages is formed from a flat web of packaging material using the origami technique. Virtual and reverse engineering are fundamental for the development of our technology. Complex simulations like extremely nonlinear dynamic events as well as design optimization are part of our daily activity. This paper describes how Simulia’s software with the help of automated tools has been successfully used to simulate the fundamental phases of our forming process driving in some cases its design.

ABAQUS is used to simulate interactions of an absorbent personal care product (a diaper), with its user and their environment. This problem, being almost completely driven by complex contact between highly deformable and moving bodies, is a challenging proposition. Advanced contact algorithms, non-linear material models and multi-body dynamic analysis
capabilities in ABAQUS are used to successfully study the structural interactions of a diaper, a baby and their environment. Aspects of product fit and comfort are often difficult to quantify either by direct measurement or from user feedback. However, by utilizing features of ABAQUS, it is possible to predict physical interactions that occur between the diaper and baby. ABAQUS provides predictions of contact interactions, stress profiles, and strain distributions that are
otherwise not measurable. Based on these predictions, one can infer aspects of fit quality and comfort. Detailed predictions of stress, strain and contact within a product also provide a means to evaluate how well that product will be able to perform its intended function. Intimate absorbent personal care products, such as diapers, rely on a combination of containment, redistribution and capture of body waste to provide utility. The function of a diaper is dramatically affected and often driven by structural interactions between itself, its user and the surrounding environment. ABAQUS provides a means to study the response of a complex, multi-component diaper worn by a moving baby.

Embossing of polymeric films destined for usage in the personal care marketplace is an industrial process that produces a very fine pattern, barely discernible to the naked eye, yet has a significant influence on some market-driven properties; more bulk, a soft and smooth touch, reduced crinkling noise and lower gloss. However this comes at a cost to the mechanical properties such as stiffness and ultimate strength capability. Since the feature size of the embossing pattern is so small, it is difficult to obtain all the information from an experiment alone, making the Finite Element Method an ideal analytical tool to help gain additional insight into the effects of some of the design and process parameters. The paper discusses the computational approach, presents results of simulations performed in Abaqus/Explicit for an example 16 micron film and compares to experimentally measured values.

Automation of analysis routines for designing packages has lead to the development of the Virtual Packaging System. Through computer automation, the time required to do virtual testing of product designs can be greatly reduced. Using commercially available software, a customized interface was developed to automate the virtual analysis of bottle geometry. The customized interface guides the analyst through the process while automating the geometry healing, meshing, solution, and reporting steps. The analyst is free to focus on the physical parameters of the design problem rather than the non-value-added steps of setting up analytical solutions. The automated solution results in significant productivity gains while improving repeatability and reliability of the analysis.

The inspection and screening of flaws in high explosive filled gun fired projectiles are crucial to ensure safety for soldiers using these items. In bore failure of structural components are sure to produce lethal consequences, therefore it is of great importance to determine what the maximum permissible crack size is for a given component coming off of the production floor. The analytical process to determine critical flaw size occurs in two stages. First, ABAQUS Explicit
finite element analysis code is used to conduct interior ballistic simulation of a 40mm shape charge projectile. The modeling scope includes interior gun tube geometry with drive band engraving and spin up effects. Pressure load inputs, which were derived from live fire test data, are used to drive the model. Secondly, the explicit model results are passed to NASGRO software for critical flaw size determination using linear-elastic fracture mechanics theory. The modeling
information and approach to the problem will be presented in this paper as well as explicit model results and proposed inspection criteria.

In order for artillery projectile guidance and control systems to meet precision performance requirements it is necessary to utilize fin stabilization rather than the conventional means of spin stabilization of artillery projectiles. Since the munitions are fired from a gun tube it is necessary for the fins to be stowed and secured during launch and then deploy once the projectile has left the muzzle of the weapon. The gun launch environment which a fin stabilized 105mm projectile can see is upwards of 15,000 G's of axial acceleration as well, it is required to have fins fully deployed within 30 milliseconds after exiting the muzzle brake in order to stabilize the projectile.
During the first test of the XM-1137 VAPP fin deployment mechanism one of the test rounds experienced a structural failure of the fins. Using pressure data from the test as well as material testing of the recovered hardware in finite element analyses using Abaqus the root cause of the failure was identified. Abaqus/CEL was used to model the gun gas flow from the base of the projectile into the pressure orifice and Abaqus/Explicit was used to fit a Johnson-Cook damage model to the actual material test data. The results of these two analyses were then used in a full model of the projectile base and fin assembly in Abaqus Explicit to replicate the failure by fracture of the fins during the dynamic event of gun launch and fin deployment.

The U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny Arsenal, NJ is developing an inert 40mm sensor grenade which houses an array of sensors and electronic components. This grenade is intended to be fired from a hand held launcher and relay sensory information back to the user. To accomplish this task, the internal electronic components must be structurally housed and guarded from impact induced g-levels. Also, radio transmitting components within the grenade require unimpeded ability to transmit RF signal, thus prohibiting the use of conductive metallic materials in the grenade’s design. These unique design requirements create significant challenges for engineers developing the projectile. Component designs had to be screened for performance and survivability before costly prototypes were fabricated. Abaqus Explicit was used to analyze the grenade during gun launch and engraving events and predict projectile performance. The technical report details the finite element simulation of, specifically, the grenade pusher (a separate sabot-like component) and the engraving band on the grenade body. The results of the simulation give a prediction of the projectile response during the engraving and gun launch events; as well as an indication of the overall structural integrity of grenade components. Analysis results of the engraving pattern are compared with actual recovered live fire grenades.

Production of heavy oil and bitumen, which is increasing around the world as conventional oil resources are depleted, often uses thermal well technologies such as Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS) and Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD). Casing connections are one of the most critical components in thermal wells. Historically, the literature shows that over 80% of reported uphole casing failures experienced in thermal wells occurred at connections. Typical connection failure mechanisms include structural damages, such as parting, thread rupture, and shoulder plasticity, and serviceability damages, such as leakage. One of the critical load conditions causing casing and casing connection failures is the thermal cycle loading, with high peak temperatures typically in excess of 200°C, which can cause the well casing and casing connections to deform plastically.
There are generally three types of connections used in intermediate or production casing of thermal wells: API (American Petroleum Institute) round, API buttress and proprietary premium connections. This paper presents finite element analysis of these three types of casing connections subjected to thermal cycle loading. Based on analysis results, this paper demonstrates that the premium connection, which has a metal-to-metal seal region, is the most suitable of these three connection designs for the use in thermal wells, in terms of structural integrity and sealability. This paper also presents recommendations for casing connection design for successful service in thermal well applications.

Thermal technologies are widely used for the heavy oil recovery. The thermal processes usually consist of some variation of Cyclic Steam Stimulation (CSS), steam flood or Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD). These thermal recovery applications have experienced numerous well casing failures around the world, often resulting in loss of wellbore integrity, lost production and added costs. The primary casing failure mechanisms include casing connection leakage and/or parting due to excessive casing strain and wellbore serviceability difficulties due to large casing deformation associated with casing buckling and shear.
Due to high operation temperatures (e.g. 220 to 350°C), casing deformations often exceed the elastic limit of typical thermal well casing materials. Therefore, a strain-based design concept and advanced finite element analysis are often used to consider the allowable casing strain capacity beyond yield and the associated non-linear material and structural responses. This paper presents analysis models, developed using Abaqus, for analyzing casing deformations resulting from thermal loading, buckling and formation shear movement. It is demonstrated that the analysis results of casing deformations can constitute a more advanced and sound basis for thermal well casing designs which minimize the potential for thermal wellbore casing failures.

For the past few decades, with depletion of hydrocarbons in more readily accessible regions, petroleum operators have shown increasing interests in exploring onshore oil and gas reserves in Arctic areas, which are typically overlain by substantial permafrost layers on the order of 150 to 500 m thick. A key challenge to the completion of these wells is how to manage the impact of thaw subsidence of permafrost layers throughout expected well life.
This paper presents a methodology for analyzing well deformation under the thaw subsidence loading. The well evaluation methodology includes several analysis programs in sequence, such as wellbore hydraulic and heat transfer analysis, to determine the heat input to the permafrost interval due to the production of hydrocarbons; geothermal analysis, to estimate the extent of the permafrost thaw; geomechanical and soil deformation analysis, to calculate the thaw-induced soil stress and movement; and casing-formation interaction analysis, to evaluate the impact of thaw subsidence on the potential deformations and mechanical and hydraulic integrity of well casing systems. Two examples are presented to demonstrate potential well failures, such as buckling and shear, caused by thaw subsidence movement for single and multiple well design scenarios, respectively. The presented methodology is recommended for optimizing well completion designs to minimize the well failure potentials.

Santos Basin is one of the most promising basins of Brazil, recently it was discovered light crude oil of 30º API (American Petroleum Institute), this reservoir of high productivity is located below a salt layer of two thousand meters of thickness. Salt also known as an evaporite rock is found in many hydrocarbon basins around the world. Evaporites are sediments formed initially from minerals dissolved in water, the most common are: halite, gypsum, and anhydrite. These minerals are found in areas that passed by a geological time of high evaporation or precipitation. Evaporites in general have the structure of a dome, formed when a thick layer of salt found in the bottom begins to crossover the superior layers vertically, its process delays millions of years. The presence of saline structures takes into favorable conditions for creating a trap for hydrocarbons, increasing the success of probability in oil and gas exploration. In salt drilling the main problem is the closing of the well or known as squeeze or salt pinch, this phenomenon provokes the imprisonment of the drillstring also known as stuck pipe. Evaporite rock behavior is defined through a creep model. The creep model is the term used in the bibliography to define the tendency that a material has to move or to deform permanently to relieve stresses. Strains take place due to extended levels of stress; this stress is less than the rupture stress. In this matter it was chosen a numeric tool to simulate the behavior of salt drilling and the effects that this will have due to the overburden stress and drilling fluid pressure. This tool is Abaqus a program of finite elements in 3D (three dimensions). The objective of this work is to determine the effect of the fluency (creep) in salt during and after the drilling of the well, through numeric simulation. At first it is shown a validation of Abaqus finite element program comparing results from literature and then it is shown a simulation of a 3D vertical salt wellbore.

Perforated base pipe is an important component in a completion system. Field applications dictate that a good perforated base-pipe design should have good expandability and good post-expansion tensile strength and collapse strength. High fidelity FEA models for evaluation of expandable base pipes have been developed; however, to optimize hole pattern design (size, shape, placement pattern) of a given size base pipe, even numerically, can be expensive and time consuming. Using FEA models and a genetic algorithm-based multi-objective optimization scheme, the authors have successfully optimized a perforated base pipe in a relatively short period of time. The significant improvement over standard design has been demonstrated by physical tests. Several aspects of the optimization process will be presented in this paper.

In field operations, during rapid deceleration of pipe (simulated by drop-catch process) or slack-off stop process, significant dynamic effects can occur. The dynamic event can amplify the load on the pipe string, and the amplified load can break a weak thread. It is necessary to understand the mechanics of this dynamic event, and thus, provide guidelines or directions for safe design and operation of the pipe string. An analysis procedure using FEA, which involves fluid-pipe interaction, has been established for this study. It shows that fluid viscosity is a very important parameter in determining whether a given pipe string with a weak thread will be safe or not under a given operating procedure.

The development plan of a hydrocarbon field includes the design of all the production/injection wells forecasted for the scenario considered. The pressure depletion occurring during the hydrocarbon reservoir exploitation induces rock compaction in the near wellbore area, which may result in mechanical actions transmitted to the well completions, that alter the stress regime in some of their sections. This phenomenon can possibly bring to the failure of the casing and of the cement, eventually leading to the well shutdown and to significant economic loss. By making reference to a case of industrial interest, the paper describes a procedure to evaluate stresses and strains in the completion structure induced by the rock deformation by using Abaqus.

Expandable sand screens are a sand control system, which is used to control the ingress of solids in oil and gas reservoirs with weak and unconsolidated formations. There are two different variations of expandable screens; a system based on a slotted basepipe which are easy to expand compliant to the formation but is relatively low in strength and a system based on a drilled basepipe which is very strong but is more difficult to expand compliantly.
FEA has been used to model the slotted basepipe type to better understand the interaction of the expanded screen with the rock formations. Initially the entire structure of the screen was modelled and the results compared to physical test data. The simulations fitted the test data very well, with run times of the order of a few hours depending on details of the simulation. The full simulations were adequate for research purposes but for routine screening of applications the
models were simplified. An equivalent representation of the screen was developed to match the gross behaviour of the screen in terms of stiffness and yield. This approach was very computationally efficient and allowed rapid investigation of formation screen interactions.
The model was used to study the effects of formation screen interactions in inclined wellbores, through multiple rock layers. The model is also routinely used to study new applications for potential problems.

Expandable sand screens are a relatively novel sand control system, which are used to control the ingress of solids in oil and gas reservoirs with weak and unconsolidated formations. They combine the ease of installation of conventional screens with the borehole support of a gravel pack.
There are two different variations of expandable screens; a system based on a slotted basepipe which are easy to expand but relatively low in strength and a system based on a drilled basepipe which are very strong but difficult to expand.
FEA has been used to model the slotted basepipe type to better understand the interaction of the expanded screen with the rock formations. This type of analysis has replaced earlier, simple analytical, models based on tunneling theory. There are many advantages to using FEA. It allows a better choice of material models for the rock such as Drucker Prager and Cap models. It also allows the investigation of a wider range of configurations, such as the effect of an annulus or the interfaces between different formations.
The results from the FEA modeling compares favorably with data from earlier, large scale, experiments. This satisfactory outcome increases confidence in the modeling and has allowed us to design models for field applications.

Lift force formation in a thrust bearing of 800-tons rotor of electric power station is discussed in the given paper. The problem is solved numerically. Direct coupling between finite-element system Abaqus calculating stress and strain state of an bearing parts and finite-volume system FlowVision-HPC calculating oil flow in gap between a collar and a shoe of bearing is used. The shape of the gap between the shoe and the collar, the clearance value, the moment of the friction force, and the temperature distribution of oil over the clearance are determined.

Offshore containers are exposed to the movement caused by wind, ocean currents, and unpredictable weather conditions so a good structural resistance is required for them. A dynamic analysis has been developed using Abaqus/Explicit to study the structural response of a horizontal pressure vessel mounted in Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) topsides in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) coast. The model includes fluid behavior of crude oil inside the container for which the linear Us-Up Hugoniot equation of state is used. The viscosity of the oil was varied according to temperature. A single adaptive meshing rule is also used to prevent distortion of fluid elements.
The structural resistance of the horizontal pressure vessel must satisfy the ASTM, ASME and API Standards to prevent catastrophic failure under extreme weather conditions. The vessel is made of a SA516-70 steel, for which mechanical properties are taken into account. The analysis considers thermal effects of fluid and weather conditions by using an appropriate heat transfer coefficient. Wind velocity is expressed in terms of an external pressure load. Stress results have been compared with a stress distribution obtained from a simulation of a pressure vessel located on a fixed platform. This type of simulation is very important since no historical data exist for this FPSO location.

Since its introduction in the 1960s, coiled tubing (CT) has evolved from smaller sizes and a few cleanout jobs to larger diameters and heavier grades with higher flow rates. Some of the limiting factors, especially on offshore platforms, are limited crane-weight capability and poor weather conditions, which severely limit the size of the reel that can be lifted. With offshore crane capabilities as low as eight tons on some platforms, a CT reel is often transported in two or more
sections, requiring offshore assembly. A conventional method of joining the two strings was to butt weld them, which reduces fatigue life to 35%. Most recently, spoolable connectors, also called cold connections, have gained popularity because of their easy and safe installation. A nonlinear, FEA-based, virtual-test method was developed to quickly and cost effectively design spoolable connectors. Using the virtual test extensively in the development of the spoolable CT connectors, and guided by engineering mechanics principles, we have successfully developed a CT connector tool that exceeds the fatigue life of field butt weld. This CT connector tool has an industry-leading fatigue life and requires a fraction of the developmental cost and time that the conventional procedure of using trial-and-error physical tests requires. The virtual test, selected virtual- test results, physical results from a fatigue machine test, and a full-scale yard test are discussed in this paper.

The production of hydrocarbons from deepwater reservoirs requires the fabrication and installation of massive infrastructure. As the global energy industry targets hydrocarbon reservoirs in ever deeper water, the use of remote subsea wells to access the reserves and deepwater flowlines to transport the produced hydrocarbons back to floating production platforms will increase. Technip pipeline engineers utilize a number of simulation tools, including ABAQUS, to ensure that the deepwater pipelines and subsea equipment are designed, fabricated and installed to meet the demanding environmental and operating conditions. Some of the various simulations Technip performs with ABAQUS include: global pipeline thermal buckling and fatigue simulations; analyses of the installation of the pipeline end termination (PLET) structure and its
connection to the suction piles that restrain the pipeline (these simulations provide the highly nonlinear force deflection curve for use as the boundary conditions in the global pipeline thermal buckling simulation); cavity radiation simulations of the heat transfer between multiple flowlines/umbilicals in the turret of floating production platforms; and thermal management simulations to ensure that the pipelines insulation design will maintain adequate hydrocarbon temperatures during shut-down conditions.

Consumers demand smaller electronics devices with more features and capabilities. Making devices smaller provides challenges to engineers to maintain the acoustic performances as enclosed acoustic volume sizes are reduced. This paper discusses the requirements for coupled structural-acoustic simulation and demonstrates the application of this technology to cell-phone acoustic design. Due to the smaller volume sizes, the low frequency response of the cell phone is affected. The frequency response rolls off faster at low frequencies when smaller microphone back volumes are used. The present work deals with studying this effect on a simple cell phone model with the finite element package, Abaqus. The results from the simulation can be used in better designing cell phone cavities for optimum performance.

Paper transport is one of the areas under media handling methods where papers are transported by rollers through different path ways. The challenge in media handling is to transport the paper smoothly with out jam or in-plane deviation (paper skew). The smooth flow of paper is influenced by grade of paper, complexity of flow path, roller speed, roller pre-loads and significantly the roller material. It is also costly and difficult to develop a physical flow path testing. Hence, there is a high demand for computer simulation to study the paper flow behavior under different path configurations. In this study a typical printer flow path is considered for paper transport simulation and is carried out with different grades of papers. This study also determines the under driven and overdriven conditions of the paper through a flow path configuration. The paper flow simulation is carried in Abaqus V6.8. The Analysis results and lessons learned from this simulation in Abaqus are presented here.

In the design of hearing instruments it is important to achieve as high gain as possible without causing oscillation in the device, due to feedback between the microphones and the receiver (loudspeaker). More gain enables to fit a larger hearing loss and more users can benefit from the hearing instrument.
Since the feedback path is very complex with many variables it is difficult to make the right "guess" for optimal configuration (material parameters, geometry, contact properties) of the hearing instrument parts.
Different approaches have been used for optimization of a validated FE model of a BTE (Behind The Ear) hearing instrument. Manual optimization where best guesses, derived from experience, hypothesis and experiments, have been analyzed together with commercial software tools, which runs the optimization in a systematic process. Abaqus Standard from Simulia was used to build the model and to run the analyses.
The outcome of the optimization process has been analyzed and compared with physical experiments. The outcome also tells which parameters are governing the feedback path and which parameters could be relaxed.

Stents have been used in the treatment of coronary artery disease for decades, and their use in the peripheral arterial vasculature is growing rapidly. Mechanical loads imposed on peripheral stents may include loads due to arterial pulsation, axial compression, bending and torsion. These stents are most often manufactured using nitinol, a nickel-titanium alloy that exhibits unique shape memory and superelastic characteristics. Finite element analysis can be a powerful tool in designing medical devices to withstand such a rigorous loading environment. This paper will focus on the use of Abaqus/Standard for fatigue life characterization of nitinol stents and comparison of performance predicted by FEA to experimental data. Abaqus is used to simulate stent expansion and fatigue loading under expected physiologically relevant loading conditions. A strain based fatigue criterion is used to determine the fatigue characteristics of the stents, and bench top fatigue testing is used to verify the numerical results. The study is extended to a competitive benchmarking of different stent designs. Results show a close correlation between analytical and experimental results, indicating that finite element analysis is a powerful tool in the design and fatigue life estimation of nitinol medical devices subjected to complex loading conditions.

Prediction of respiratory motion has the potential to substantially
improve cancer radiation therapy. A nonlinear finite element (FE) model of
respiratory motion during full breathing cycle has been developed based on
patient specific pressure-volume relationship and 4D Computed Tomography
(CT) data. For geometric modeling of lungs and ribcage we have constructed
intermediate CAD surface which avoids multiple geometric smoothing
procedures. For physiologically relevant respiratory motion modeling we have
used pressure-volume (PV) relationship to apply pressure loading on the surface
of the model. A hyperelastic soft tissue model, developed from experimental
observations, has been used. Additionally, pleural sliding has been considered
which results in accurate deformations in the superior-inferior (SI) direction.
The finite element model has been validated using 51 landmarks from the CT
data. The average differences in position is seen to be 0.07 cm (SD = 0.20 cm),
0.07 cm (0.15 cm), and 0.22 cm (0.18 cm) in the left-right, anterior-posterior,
and superior-inferior directions, respectively.

In this study we compare various way of quantifying high cycle radial fatigue behavior in a percutaneous Mitral repair device using Goodman methods. In order to provide an improved representation of the tissue-device interaction, we use an Ogden hyperelastic model to simulate the native vessel with parameters obtained from pressure-diameter test data of human cadaver heart coronary tissue, and published data presented in previous work. We also examine how the computed peak tensile strains at the surface of this device differ from (a)The values computed at integration points in the 3D and (b) The same integration point values extrapolated to the nodal points and averaged over adjacent elements.

Mercury Marine outboards, engines, and drives are designed to withstand indoor impact testing (called “logstrike”) that simulates a collision with an underwater object. This test is comprised of an outboard or sterndrive device mounted on a mock boat that collides with a simulated log.
Many parts are designed with the arduous logstrike test in mind. However, it is difficult to approximate the loads each part experiences during logstrike because of the complex and dynamic nature of the event. For this reason Mercury Marine R&D created a project to develop a capability for predicting the motion and loads of a logstrike event. A staged approach consisting of progressively sophisticated Abaqus/Explicit numerical simulations, validated by physical testing, was used to work towards successful simulation of the full logstrike event. This newly developed method is beginning to support product development programs and assist Mercury Marine engineers in designing components with more knowledge about the loads they must withstand. The method also enables the evaluation of designs without the need for physical parts. This provides the opportunity for better product integrity with reduced design time.

The paper presents a numerical simulation of the drop test in a still water for the multi-component box structure. The complexity of the problem is in the strong fluid-structure interaction (FSI) between the box and the water free surface. The numerical simulation of the drop test is performed with two software tools: Abaqus and FlowVision through the direct coupling interface, which manipulates, on the Abaqus side the Lagrangian finite-element mesh and on the FlowVision side the Eulerian finite-volume mesh with sub grid geometry resolution. The novel approach is that there are no auxiliary structure models (or 3rd party software) integrated in the applied software solution: the finite-element mesh is defined from the Cartesian CFD finite-volume mesh and all the relationships between the CFD mesh cells and the outside FE faces are fully preserved. Each mesh node displacement is directly transferred between FlowVision and Abaqus, thus avoiding any additional interpolation.

Carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics (CFRP) are being used for highly loaded lightweight structural components for many years. Up to now mostly insufficient two-dimensional classical failure criterions, which are embedded into FE-software like Tsai-Wu, Hill, etc. have been used for the dimensioning of composites. To achieve better predictions of the three-dimensional complex composite failure behavior newer, so-called action-plane based failure criterions have been developed, e.g.: PUCK, JELTSCH-FRICKER or LaRC04. In addition to this, the complex step-by-step component failure process including post-failure load redistribution can be accurately simulated using a combination of these newer criterions with a convincing material degradation model. Within this work this new method was implemented into Abaqus to investigate the complex failure behavior of a CFRP flange connection of a Rolls-Royce aero engine. For instance, it is shown, that small radii next to the bolt-connection result in three-dimensional stress states that initialize delamination and gradual component stiffness reduction. The comparison of additional experimental and numerical data confirmed the implementation and prediction quality of new action-plane based failure criteria into Abaqus. Due to this the knowledge about the complex component behavior has been significantly extended, such that finally a cost-reducing design improvement was available.

Since the 1946 issuance of the ASTM bearing steel specification, A295, the research and development of bearing steels has resulted in substantially improved fatigue and wear performance of rolling bearings across the entire industry. This is not only the case with higherend “advanced” materials and processes such as ceramic based technologies, but also with the more economic material selection of bearing quality steels.
The bearing quality steels are characterized primarily, though not exclusively, by high hardness, very high static strength, fine grained microstructures, and low non-metallic inclusion content. Although developed to perform under cyclic rolling contact and slippage loads, these steels are also at times considered for usage in structural applications, such as shafting. When used in a structural manner, the design engineers are advised to consider unique fatigue related attributes of rolling bearing steels, such as the concept of “volume stressed”.
The main point presented is that bearing grade steels in structural applications are expected to realize a wide range of cycles to failure in a group of seemingly identical parts. Also discussed are some related experiences with Virtual Product Development activities at INA (Schaeffler) USA with bearing/structural components using a combination of FE analysis with ABAQUS, fatigue assessment and validation testing.

Additive Manufacturing enables innovative shock wave control in supersonic turbine blades
LayerWise’ single-piece turbine blade model used in pioneering research at von Karman Institute
Scientists at von Karman Institute in Belgium contracted LayerWise for producing a scaled turbine inlet guide vane model for a turbine research project. Additive manufacturing specialist LayerWise built the metal vane specimen as a single part, complete with internal cooling cavity and fine instrumentation channels. Research based on detailed simulation and testing concludes that turbine cooling could be improved by ejecting a pulsating stream through the trailing edge, instead of a continuous stream. At the same time, the pulsed cooling significantly reduces the intensity of the shock waves. This opens up opportunities for jet engine and power plant turbine manufacturers to achieve higher turbine expansions, resulting in more compact engines and reduced development costs.
Pulsated versus continuous cooling
Turbine blades in jet engines and power plants are internally cooled because of their exposition to high-temperature gas flow, directly discharged from the combustion chamber. Shock waves formed at the trailing vane edge generate strong stator/rotor interactions that reduce turbine efficiency and add additional mechanical challenges.
The current research at the von Karman Institute focuses on pulsated cooling versus continuous cooling. Scientists selected and characterized the different building blocks needed to acquire detailed insight into this new concept of pulsated turbine cooling.
Building blocks for fluid dynamics research
A mechanical pulsating valve delivering an adequate margin of frequencies and amplitudes generate the pulsating cooling air. The air flow travels through a model of a high-pressure inlet guide vane produced by LayerWise, circulating all along its length before being ejected through a slot at the trailing edge. It concerns a simplified and scaled turbine inlet guide vane model that is derived from a real geometry.
Professor Paniagua and his team studied numerically the entire setup using fluid dynamics simulation software. The complete experimental setup was modelled, including piping, pulsating valve and blade cavity. The fluid dynamics model was used to extend the experimental investigation beyond the limits of the current setup, mainly in the upper frequency provided by the valve. Subsequently, experiments were carried out to verify the numerical results.
Turbine inlet guide vane produced by LayerWise
Building the physical model of the turbine inlet guide vane was a real challenge. LayerWise, a company focusing on selective laser melting (SLM), produced the vane according to von Karman Institute specifications. Quite impressive is that LayerWise manufactured the vane as one unit in a single production step, including all internal cooling cavities and instrumentation channels.
Wind tunnel test results, including both time averaged and time resolved results, helped the aerodynamicists to understand and prove the complex physics involved. According to Paniagua, the relationship between pulsated cooling and shock wave behavior is also quite revolutionary. Computed fluid dynamics simulation predicts a 70% reduction in shock intensity, with experimental data conforming the heavy reduction tendency.
“The conclusion of this successful research project is that shock waves can be adequately controlled by optimizing the cooling pulsation timing and amplitude. This offers great potential for aero engine and power plant turbine manufacturers to develop more compact engines exhibiting higher reliability and thrust/weight ratio.”

Today manufacturing companies are more and more often characterized by a growing product and processes complexity. Projects needs the participation of a pool of companies that have to collaborate in a multidisciplinary and integrated way following a defined PLM strategy.
These challenges are meant to introduce a new way of working, based on innovation and global collaboration, both internally among different disciplines and externally between operations, administration, and maintenance and its suppliers. The development engineering department works with a know-how based on models algorithms and data coming from different key-disciplines as aerodynamics, heat transfer, mechanical integrity, combustion, materials, etc. For this reason the use of these topics in a multi-disciplinary process is often difficult due to the incompatibility of notation, informatics languages and IT platforms.
Here-hence the need of defining and managing the simulation processes and associated data so that they can always be tracked, traced, referred to the product requirements and available by all the users operating in network on different disciplines involved in the product design.
The target for the introduction of a collaborative engineering process is to manage, improve and accelerate the multidisciplinary simulation analysis, in order to obtain the best product in terms of technological innovation, performance and quality since the early design conception. The introduction of collaborative engineering process is the key to meet the targets of a competitive market like the energy field.

Electrically operated high temperature furnaces and reactors are used in many indus-trial manufacturing processes such as sintering or single crystal growth in order to allow for the required process conditions. In view of their outstanding characteristics refractory metals are ideally suited as materials for the resistive heating elements. Nevertheless, significant and life-time-limiting irreversible deformations of these elements can be frequently observed which are assumed to be caused by a combination of temperature expansion, electromagnetic forces, and high temperature creep effects. In order to study this undesired behavior, a multi-physics model of a particular three-phase AC heating element of a sintering furnace is formulated and implemented within Abaqus. It accounts for the primary involved coupled physical mechanisms such as the harmonic electrical field problem, the thermal problem governed by Joule's law, thermal expan-sion, high temperature creep and harmonic forces caused by the electromagnetic field along with field dependent constitutive behavior. Since in general solving the fully coupled problem on a 3D domain is computationally demanding and Abaqus lacks functionality in the field of electromag-netism, a semi-analytical approach for consideration of time-harmonic electromagnetic forces within mechanical analysis is developed in the present work. The model implemented as a user-defined extension for Abaqus is computationally very attractive since it avoids discretization of the medium surrounding the heater. Furthermore, some aspects of modeling coupled physical prob-lems of different characteristic time-scale are briefly discussed. Results from application of the model are in good qualitative agreement with in-situ observations and confirm the relevance of considering electromagnetic forces within analysis of high temperature furnaces.

As the maximum speed of bullet trains continues to increase, overheating and thermal deformation/stress on brake systems are going to be critical for emergency stops. Precise prediction of the maximum temperature is needed for the design of brake systems, especially for both discs and linings, where how to handle the high speed spinning of discs is the point of the heat/structure coupled analyses.
Abaqus provides couple of potential methods but each one had critical shortcomings. The authors investigated the feasibility of a new method; Abaqus/Explicit using ‘rigid bodies with temperature degrees of freedom’ for fully coupled thermal analysis. Temperature of both discs and linings was successfully analyzed over the whole time span of an emergency braking event with practical computation time.
Full-scale experiments were carried out to verify the analysis results related to the temperature of both discs and linings, and the results showed good agreement.

Total knee replacement gives proven good results for isolated patello-femoral osteoarthritis, but patello-femoral arthroplasty may be more appropriate because only the joint compartment is replaced. Although the femoral component of a patello-femoral prosthesis is smaller than in total knee arthroplasty, it is unknown whether strain-adaptive periprosthetic bone remodeling occurs following patello-femoral arthroplasty. The aim of the study was to evaluate and compare the stress shielding effect of prosthetic replacement with Finite Element (FE) modeling. Four FE models were developed to investigate the effects of different patellofemoral replacement designs; we compared the stress shielding effect in the distal femur between a physiological model of knee, the Richards type II patellofemoral prosthesis, the Journey PFJ prosthesis, and the Genesis II total knee prosthesis. The geometry of the knee joint was obtained from a MRI of a patient. Von Mises stress was evaluated in the same regions of interest as in the experimental analysis, during a loaded squat until 120° of flexion, similar to previous experimental tests performed on knee kinematics simulators. During knee flexion the Journey PFJ has a similar trend of the physiological knee; the Richards II PFJ has higher stress shielding than the other PFJ model and in the Genesis II TKA the stress shielding is higher compared to the PFA models. The results agree with experimental DXA literature results; in particular they demonstrated that, during knee flexion, the magnitude of the Von Mises stress behind the anterior flange was about the same for the physiological model and for the Journey PFJ but smaller for the Richards II. This stress shielding effect of the Richards II was most obvious around 90 degrees of flexion. This phenomenon can possibly be explained by the particular design features of the Richards II. In the proximal region of the bone the values of the Von Mises stress were about the same magnitude for the physiological model and for both patello-femoral prostheses and also these findings are in agreement with the experimental DXA outcome.

This paper covers finite element (FE) analysis and optimization of a spring orthosis, constructed from a pre-impregnated carbon-fibre epoxy composite material. The spring orthosis is one of the most advanced aids that are used in the orthopedist industry. The work has been performed in collaboration with Ortopedteknik, Borås Hospital, at FS Dynamics in Gothenburg.
The purpose of the analyses was to find weaknesses of how the orthosis is built today and to give suggestions of how to change its properties and behaviour. The orthosis has two major interesting areas, the spring and the toe. Both of these areas were analyzed regarding rotation angles of the plies and ply stacking sequence. The geometry of the orthosis, material type and number of composite plies in toe and spring were kept constant during the analysis. The material was modeled as a balanced orthotropic lamina, with a plane stress assumption. To validate the material model a four point bending test of a composite plate was modeled in Abaqus/CAE and compared with experimental data. The interactive Tsai-Wu failure criterion was used as a relative stress measurement. The FE model of the orthosis was created from a scan of the real orthosis. From this the front surface was extracted and used as a thin shell model. The composite layup of the orthosis was created in the way to best imitate the manufacturing procedure used by the engineers at Ortopedteknik.
To be able to analyze the orthosis a walking cycle was recorded from a person wearing the orthosis. This walking cycle was then applied to the model in Abaqus by prescribing reference points and using boundary conditions and multi point constraints. The maximum Tsai-Wu values in the toe and spring part during this walking cycle indicate that the orthosis is not close to failure. The Design Of Experiment (DOE) methodology was used to analyze how the stacking sequences of both the spring (18 plies) and the toe (5 plies) affect the bending stiffness. This was done using the four point bending test in Abaqus where the vertical reaction force was used as stiffness measure. It was found that the angle variation of the outermost plies of the spring has the most effect on the bending stiffness. For the toe the rotation of the two outermost plies are almost alone deciding the bending stiffness of the toe.
From the DOE data approximations were created and then used to optimize stacking sequences based on requested bending stiffnesses.

To enhance the fatigue life of metal components, frequently compressive stress is introduced to the surface layer. Although procedures such as shot peening have been practiced for many decades in other industries, an improved understanding of the fundamental mechanics that leads to the improved performance is desired. From a continuum mechanical point of view, the interaction between the crack and the stress intensity field is the factor determining whether the crack will propagate. Of special interest for fatigue performance is the propagation behavior of microstructurally short cracks, where the energy release rate, G, is smaller than the threshold value, Gth. For this presentation Abaqus/Standard has been used to calculate J-integral values for different ratios of crack length and compressive residual stress depth, as well as different residual stress magnitudes.

Computational modeling of stents can provide insight into critical locations (high stress/strain regions), help with design iterations/optimization, and reduce the need for bench-top testing. This study focuses on the developmental efforts to create a material model that can capture the mechanical response of poly-L-lactide (PLLA), the backbone of Abbott Vascular’s ABSORB Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold (BVS). PLLA is an anisotropic, viscoplastic material. Its material behavior maybe affected by temperature, environment, and processing; thereby, introducing substantial challenges in modeling its response. A new test protocol was developed for performing material characterization experiments that can capture the anisotropic material response using a dog-bone shaped specimen. The Parallel Network (PN) model from Veryst Engineering is an advanced modular constitutive model framework. The PN model allows for specific anisotropic and isotropic hyperelastic and viscoplastic components to be combined to capture the experimentally observed response of PLLA. The material model (PN model) was calibrated to experimental data from the dog-bone material testing. A validation experiment (single ring tensile test) was performed and the fidelity of the computational model was tested by comparing its predictions to the single ring tensile test data.

The modelling of welds is desirable to predict the distortion of components during manufacture, the position and magnitude of peak residual stresses and to predict metallurgical effects in specific regions. Welds are a complex modelling problem requiring both thermal and structural solutions. This has lead to the development of several weld-specific simulation packages and codes for finite element analysis packages.
This paper describes the application of the newly developed Abaqus 2D Weld Modeller to simulate the residual stress field in ferritic weld test specimens. The specimens were manufactured for an ongoing research programme in conjunction with The University of Manchester and Serco Assurance. The specimens modelled were autogenously welded plates, an eight-pass groove welded plate and a seven-pass ring weld disk.
The 2D weld GUI simplified the creation of these models, particularly with its automated selection of surfaces to apply heat transfer equations to and the model change requirements for weld bead deposition.
The results are similar to both measured and previously modelled stress distributions. Simulations have been performed using a number of tools including Abaqus and VFT. Measurements have been made by The University of Manchester using neutron diffraction. The results are broadly similar, but there are noticeable differences in the fusion zone/weld bead area due to the lack of phase transformation modelling. Phase transformation introduces compressive stress in the fusion zone due to the crystallographic expansion as the steel grains transform from face-centred cubic to body-centred cubic. This compressive region also creates a balancing tensile stress region in the heat-affected zone.

SolidWorks can be customized or programmed using SolidWorks VBA (Visual Basic for Applicaitions). VBA is a subset of Visual Basic programming language. You can add your own commands to SolidWorks, which will perform the activities required by you. You can automate the Solidworks work flow using SolidWorks VBA.

Performance Tool and Die (PTD), a leading tooling provider for the automotive, agriculture, and recreation industries, was looking for ways to decrease forces on the material during cutting, increase tool life, and reduce cycle time—seemingly contradictory objectives.

With the economy barely showing signs of recovery and the demand for goods and services still depressed, one could wonder about the reasoning behind starting a manufacturing business, and probably find no encouragement. Not so for Paul Beckwith, founder of TraTek Inc. (Noblesville, IN). Beckwith claims to have no secret formula for starting a specialized machining operation in a difficult economy, but he has clear advantages.

When Weatherford International Ltd. bought Oil Country Manufacturing, creating Weatherford Oil Country Manufacturing, the job shop was forced to step up production threefold. One of their major challenges was finding a CAM package that allowed them to use Weatherford's corporate CAD standard, Pro/Engineer, while still allowing them to use geometry from their company standard, Ashlar-Vellum's Graphite.

The passing of Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computer, has many of us assessing the role one man can play in promoting technological change. Here is Bill Gibbs’ account of how the Macintosh computer, one of Steve Jobs’ first big hits, influenced the development of graphics-based NC programming systems such as GibbsCAM.

Anyone who programs a CNC today has to be using CAM software, and the odds are they didn’t acquire it last week. All the leading CAM software companies have been in business 25 years or more. So, on average, companies have had their CAM software a dozen years. Would you believe CAM technologies have improved in that time? Have you kept up? Have you invested the small amount of time and money necessary to keep up?

Shops new to rotary-axis operations—and even a few veterans—often miss opportunities for cutting parts faster and more cost-effectively. However, developing a better understanding of two fundamental issues can help any manufacturer ensure that its four- and five-axis machine tools are achieving their full potential.

The trend to use automation solutions in the photovoltaic industry is rooted in the continual push to lower production costs. One of the key elements to success in the solar industry lies with image processing, including inspection and vision guided robots.

Which solar manufacturing areas offer the greatest return opportunities for robotic automation? Which robot type is best for a given solar application task and how does vision fit it? Robotic automation helps the solar industry maximize factory throughput, drive down costs and improve efficiencies.

A global leader in the development and integration of electro-optical products for the defense and law enforcement industries, B.E. Meyers is using SolidWorks Enterprise PDM to organize critical product data, reduce design cycle time and increase response time from the engineering department.

The Celtic Manor Resort chose In2grate Business Solutions to provide their comprehensive procurement and inventory management solution. Celtic Manor was looking for a solution to manage procurement and inventory across their resort, and with its extensive portfolio, In2grate Business Solutions was able to provide them with the ideal software solution using Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

AWE Aldermarston is the headquarters of the Atomic Weapons Establishment’s operations. The AWE has been central to the defence of the United Kingdom for more than 50 years, providing and maintaining the warheads for the country’s nuclear defence.

Event chain methodology improves the accuracy of project planning simplifying
the modeling and analysis of uncertainties in the project schedules. As a result, it
helps to mitigate the negative impact of cognitive and motivational biases related
to project planning.

Originally developed by ecologists, adaptive management has become a powerful
framework for project management. It is a structured and systematic process to
continually improve decisions and practices by learning from the outcomes of previous
decisions. Adaptive management includes a number of organizational principles, such as
iterative development and avoidance of irreversible decisions.

Microsoft Project implements Qualitative Risk Analysis methodology. But what about quantitative analysis? Quantitative Risk Analysis gives the project manager ability to see how project schedule will be affected if certain risks are occur. As a result, project managers are able to mitigate risk factors and manage their projects better.

Managing of risk and uncertainties during the course of a project has become one of the priorities of the software project manager. Any research and development projects are affected by a large number of events, which can significantly change the course of a project.

All projects have risks and uncertainties. In some cases, for example in most research and development project the effect of such risks and uncertainties can be very significant. However many managers still did not employ proper project risks management processes for their projects.

Siemens AG’s Energy Sector, particularly its Division “Power Transmission” uses ELECTRO, an electric field simulator from Integrated Engineering Software, as an every-day tool to assist in transformer design and test. All over the world transformers are used in systems for transmission of electrical energy from power-plants to consumers.

SolidWorks Corporation continues to further its mission to unleash the power of 3D for everyone in the product development process. The SolidWorks® Premium suite of design and analysis tools helps bridge the gap between product designers and other disciplines, eliminating the inefficiencies of differing design systems and revolutionizing the design process.

Congratulations! You have just purchased new 3D CAD software that promises to help your engineers design innovative products faster and with fewer errors. The steps outlined in this paper should help your company realize the benefits of your new toolset.

In our days, the CAD and CAE models in maritime products development become increasingly complex while more analyses are necessary before a new design is ready to be constructed. Additionally to the standard assessments, extensive calculations are often needed to ensure the product’s performance characteristics and minimize the failure risk through its lifetime. For the fast employment of such analyses with CAE simulation tools, the use of high efficient pre- and postprocessing software becomes essential. This work showcases how ANSA pre-processor and μETA post-processor fulfill this requirement of the Maritime Industry by offering sophisticated tools for advanced simulation techniques, automation capabilities and robust performance.

The continuous increase in maritime traffic makes the risk of collision greater, especially in the high traffic areas near harbors, channels and offshore structures. Since the consequences of ship collisions can be severe for the environment and the ship's crew, the behavior of a ship's structure subjected to impact loads, must be taken into consideration in the design stage of a ship. Collision mechanics are usually separated into external dynamics and internal mechanics.

Bulk carriers are subjected to IACS regulations, concerning the structural integrity of their cargo holds. In sagging and hogging loading conditions the structure of the ship is exposed to maximum values of bending moment and shear force. As a result these conditions are crucial for the determination of the minimum required scantlings, through a global model analysis. This white paper presents the FE model creation of a handymax class bulk carrier and a methodology for modeling realistic, wave induced loading conditions.

Exacting precision and tight tolerances define the field of advanced robotics. Visualizing complex mechanisms effectively and computing part weights accurately are essential in creating these highly engineered products. Barrett Technology, Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts has thrived on such challenges since its founding in 1988, consistently producing an array of innovative robots that outperform the competition.

BigBelly Solar designs and manufactures innovative solar-powered trash compaction systems that lower fuel costs and carbon emissions by reducing garbage truck pickups and trips. Selecting an efficient 3D CAD platform for developing the BigBelly system was an important consideration for the startup company, in order to build and satisfy the needs of a new market.

NEXX Systems, Inc. delivers products specifically designed to meet the evolving demands of the advanced wafer-level packaging market. The company’s products are ideally suited for a wide range of deposition applications that support smaller, faster electronic devices. NEXX chose SolidWorks® 3D CAD software as its preferred development platform from its very inception.

In B2B, one key factor in winning business and growing customer loyalty is making it easy for buyers to procure product. For a company like Alexandra plc, a supplier of corporate clothing and uniforms, that means remaining accessible to buyers at all times to receive and process orders accurately and quickly.

The Internet has affected virtually every industry, placing immense pressure on companies to improve accessibility and maximize productivity to keep pace with the accelerated speed of business. Customers now want instant answers to questions about their accounts or orders, expect to receive products faster than ever before and demand a higher standard of service.

Mechanics and do-it-yourselfers are always looking for an easier-to-use, more effective tool for the job. Starting with a mechanism concept that has been available for over 70 years, our customer was able to manage mechanical variation using CETOL 6 σ in order to perfect the cam-roller design and deliver a zero-degree wrench to the professional and consumer market.

A Micro-CT scan of a coarse sand sample was used to generate a mesh for fluid flow simulation. The image data’s resolution was 4.3µm, showing the solid and air domain of the sand sample. High quality tetrahedral meshes were generated for fluid flow simulation.

XMT provides a rapid means of generating 3D representations of actual material microstructures in two-phase systems. Segmentation algorithms in ScanIP have been used to segment four components (i.e. Al, TiB2, Fe, Air) based on signal strength.

Upgrading and retrofitting of power plants have long been a focus of utilities, industrial companies and independent power producers. Normally, it was possible to obtain OEM “like new” performance levels, or purchase OEM upgrade products. New approaches to restoring or increasing performance of existing in-service turbines are presented here. The ability to analyze aerodynamic and thermodynamic parameters of existing machines and make adjustments to original airfoil shapes is ensured by new developments in turbomachinery flow path design, analysis and optimization software AxSTREAM.

With today’s trend to minimize energy consumption, slash emissions and preserve ecology, there is an ultimate demand for switching to more efficient, cost‐saving turbomachines. Finding a trade‐off between efficiency and manufacturing cost, also having an eye towards reliability and size of machine, can be considered the biggest engineering challenge.

Whereas turbomachinery design has evolved over the last two decades, updating instruction on the topic to reflect the new prevailing methods and techniques remains a challenge. Part of this challenge stems from the diversity of technologies covered in the courses; part of it ensues from the extensive use of software by industry designers.

Specialising in the power generation and aerospace industries, and making complex components including gas turbine and landing gear parts, Bromford Industries has its head office in Birmingham and has acquired a further five companies in the same sector, with the aim of becoming a major high technology supplier to the industry.

Risk Management is a practice with processes, methods, and tools for managing risks in a project, it encompasses identification, mitigation, and continuous tracking, and control procedures that feedback through the program assessment process to decision authorities focusing on building the right product, project performance, managing change, innovation, and uncertainty. It is intended to be a framework within which experience, insight, and judgment are applied to successfully manage risk. It is included in this article because of its effect on the design process.

A concept model typically shows only what a product will eventually look like. It helps investors, potential partners, and the people you contact for market research to get a better idea of your product’s appearance. So-called “appearance models” are concept models that simulate the look of the final product, and they are used for initial brochures, publicity releases, and trade shows when the final product is not ready. It also helps the inventor get a sense of the proportion and style of the final product.

A battery management system (BMS) ensures that high-voltage batteries always operate in an optimal range. Such systems are classified as safety-critical, and comprehensive testing is indispensable. This article presents the hardware and simulation models that are required for the tests.

If one compares Attitude and Orbit Control Systems (AOCS) for satellites and Electronic Stability Systems (ESP) for vehicles superficially, there are not many similarities except that they are both electronic devices for positioning control. But the technical structures, the development processes and especially the testing processes of these electronic units have many similarities which are important from the point of view of the test system.

EASA enables Zurich to secure a master version of a given spreadsheet on a server. Authorized access is only via a custom web application created with EASA’s codeless application builder, allowing a more natural work-flow.

EASA is a patented software product which enables ultra-rapid creation of custom web-based applications which leverage existing assets such as spreadsheets, databases, web-services, and legacy applications.
The Wind ITO system has resulted in an errorproof process that provides consistent and reproducible results, a knowledge base that allows validation and verification of past analyses, enhanced productivity and a quicker turn-around on complex analyses.

StatSoft, provider of the STATISTICA product suite, is committed to partnering with our
customers to meet our mutual goal of designing and producing products of the highest quality and reliability. STATISTICA Enterprise is the ultimate analytics platform for research and development (R&D) and quality control.

Founded in 1993 and partnered with Phonak under the Sonova Group in 2009, Advanced Bionics® is a global leader in the development and manufacturing of cochlear implant systems. Cochlear implants are active implantable medical devices designed to restore hearing to profoundly deaf people.

The set up of a wind farm involves multiple analysis steps to determine the feasibility of installing wind turbines in specific locations. In addition to considering government, environmental and legal policies, it is essential to determine the engineering feasibility of installing wind turbines of a selected make and model. The engineering feasibility of a specific wind turbine is based on ambient wind conditions, turbulence and geographical data in the selected location and the capabilities of the selected wind turbine model. This engineering evaluation involves site-specific suitability analysis.

STATISTICA Enterprise has been used at Delphi’s diesel plants in La Rochelle and Blois in France for more than 10 years.
STATISTICA Enterprise is used to treat quality data under the Statistical Process Control and other sources. Technicians use the tool to get a visual display of the possible drifts and the test helps maintenance operations adjust the manufacturing process
according to specifications.

Inovio Pharmaceuticals (formerly Genetronics), specializes in developing technology and hardware that has the potential to allow physicians to more efficiently and cost-effectively deliver life-saving drugs or beneficial genes to patients with catastrophic illnesses, including cancer. The company is the technology leader in electroporation therapy (EPT), the application of very brief, carefully controlled, pulsed electric fields, to human cells. This process causes pores to open in the cell membrane and allows pharmaceuticals or genes, injected in the area prior to the application of the electric pulse, to gain access to the cell's interior. The cell pores close up a short time later, trapping the chemotherapeutic agents inside the cancer cell, so they can destroy the cell

Most of the works of civil engineering, and some others applications, need to be designed using a basic cartography with a suitable scale to the accuracy and extension of the plot. The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Photogrammetry covers the gap between classical manned aerial photogrammetry and hand-made surveying techniques because it works in the close-range domain, combining aerial and terrestrial photogrammetry, but also introduces low-cost alternatives.The aim of this work is developing of an accurate and low-cost method to characterize landslides located on the size of a road.

SYSTAT has long been a staple of the linear models crowd and now gets more powerful with every version. The present version includes Exact tests, Monte Carlo simulations, and the ever popular (and becoming more so every day) quality analysis section. As with most modern statistical software, it runs on 32- and 64-bit systems and loads trouble free (and I reviewed it on Vista!) from disk or internet. And they still offer perpetual licensure!

Product development companies understand that designs using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components can be cheaper and faster to implement than creating a fully proprietary product. Companies, however, are also frequently eager to take the next step toward product differentiation, increased market share, protection of intellectual property, and a unique position within their market niche.

SO2 (sulfur dioxide) gas emissions are the by-products of natural events like volcanic eruptions, as well as a variety of man-made industrial processes. A precursor to acid rain and a serious air pollutant, SO2 emissions can have significant negative effects on human health and the environment.

In a world as technically intricate as the oil and gas industry—when billions of dollars of revenue are on the line—reservoir engineers must be confident that they have predicted the behavior of complex systems with reasonable accuracy.

We share a world inhabited by billions of fascinating creatures, few of which receive as much attention and universal affection as the dolphin. As magnificent, playful swimmers, they can propel themselves at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour through a watery world that is very different from our own.

Any design that is subjected to a cyclical excitation source responds by vibrating in order to release the incoming energy. The vibrations are perceived as small deflections on the design. Everyday instances include motors mounted to shafts, a tool mounted on a mill or a lathe, unbalanced rotating machinery, etc. The common denominator in such cases is that a cyclic sinusoidal frequency source induces vibrations on the design, resulting in deflections. Such deflections over time are typically detrimental to a design, although in a few cases, they are desired outputs.

With the increasing availability of Digital SLR cameras in the consumer market, many users are choosing to capture images in their camera manufacturer’s proprietary RAW format in order to retain image information that is normally lost when capturing to the default JPEG format. Retaining as much information as possible is crucial to the workflow of most photographers so that they can perform post-processing with minimal loss of quality. Additionally, the rising popularity of HDR, Tilt-Shift, and other photographic techniques have made retaining greater dynamic range in digital images paramount.

While engineers and drafters can understand a 2D drawing, your customers, salespeople, buyers, and suppliers may find it much more difficult to comprehend. Looking at a design in 3D versus 2D eliminates the need for viewers to have mastered this technical knowledge.

As manufacturers strive to find ways to become leaner, more efficient, and more competitive in global markets, generating CAD data to satisfy all the product documentation requirements of the manufacturing enterprise may hold the greatest potential for improving productivity.

Considering the environmental impacts of a product as part of the design process is a relatively new concept for many companies. Getting to grips with this topic can seem like a daunting challenge if you start to explore the complexities of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and carbon footprinting, the bewildering array of eco labels and standards currently in use, and the huge variety of environmental issues that you could choose to address.

“Arena provides Align with all the functionality we need to streamline critical data management processes and manage compliance so our personnel have vital product information at their fingertips. We have been able to significantly reduce our operational costs while improving productivity. And Arena provides a scalable solution that grows with our business without us having to grow our IT department to support it.”

They approached I.D.milano for the development of all 3 programs. To make things a little more interesting, I.D.milano were given only a few months to creat both the booth and the prototypes. This meant little or no time for the usual design iterations that are par for the course for any development effort. Also, the tradefair created an absolute deadline for the team. Miss it and there would be one very unhappy client.

I.D.milano adopted a practical, 2-pronged, hands-on approach. On the one hand, they used Pro/Engineer Wildfire to create a flexible assembly model that enabled their engineers to quickly evaluated multiple configurations for the most compact, service-friendly layout that would also cope with the machines considerable cooling requirements.

In this whitepaper we describe how controlling product data, ensuring all changes are documented and communicate the correct product data to internal and external partners, and having an effective system in place for revision control helps companies bring new products to market without missed ship dates and cost targets.

At the end of 2008, 75% of law departments surveyed in the Altman Weil Flash Survey on Law Department Cost Control said they were facing budget cuts in 2009. In fact, nearly one-third reported that those cuts would include layoffs of support staff and attorneys. Today, many departments are avoiding further legal team layoffs by doing more in-house, reports Altman Weil’s James Wilber, a principal and senior law department consultant at the company.

”Hurray!” enthused a recent e-mail by Burckhardt Compression’s CAD/Plant Design Manager, Marcel Blumer. “The latest order from China on the 26th of February 2007 means it’s time to celebrate our 550th MPDS project!” In a Europe where manufacturing has experienced some uncertain times, with globalisation and a shift of production centres demanding increasing flexibility, innovation and specialisation, Burckhardt Compression is an over 160-year-old success story.

Lehigh Cement Company has served the construction industry in North America for more than 100 years as a producer of high quality Portland, blended, specialty cements and construction materials. Lehigh cements are widely used by ready-mix concrete suppliers and for numerous highway, architectural, industrial and marine applications. Lehigh is fully owned by HeidelbergCement of Germany and is affiliated with some of the world's most technically advanced cement operations and related construction materials activities. Lehigh employs approximately 2000 employees.

The apparel market is a $172 billion retail market nationwide. Whether you buy designer fashions, or whether you go to your local discount store and purchase off the rack, the garment you buy is part of this $172 billion industry. And, designer fashion, or wholesale off-the-rack, the process of producing the garment is the same. First the garment is designed and a pattern is made and marked. Then the pattern is used to cut fabric which is sewn into the finished garment.

The Administrative Offi ce of Courts is charged with providing the centralized,
state-level administrative support necessary for the operation of the state’s court system, the development of procedures and systems to enhance the operational capacity of the courts and the collection and dissemination
of information necessary for the development of policies to promote the most effi cient operation of the courts.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the benefits and challenges inherent in a recent shift in how Integrated Shipbuilding Environments (ISEs) are created and deployed amongst the world’s leading shipbuilders, offshore experts and marine-focused software vendors. The paper will also outline a case study in which this approach has been employed.

Slavneft-YANOS used Plant-4D to design a set of hydrogen production facilities with the capacity of 40-45 m 3 / hour. Designs were carried out by a department of the Yaroslavl refinery Slavneft-Yaroslavnefteorgsintez.
Due to the large workload, the whole project was divided and assigned to a number of engineers. A database of pipeline elements of domestic and global suppliers is available in DBMS Oracle. Pipeline elements in the database are divided into specific groups, which considerably reduce the workload of engineers.

Giprogaztsentr used Plant-4D to design the Kamensk Shakhtinskaya compressor station in order to maintain the desired parameters of the gas in the gas pipeline Sokhranovka-October which supplies the North Caucasus region. The COP is equipped with five units of GPA-16M-03 "Ural" with a working pressure of 7.4 MPa.

The South Khylchuyu oil field is located in the Nenets Autonomous district in the Arkhangelsk region, 120 km north-east of Naryan-Mar - the administrative center of the Nenets district and 80 km north-west of p.Haryaginsky.
Plant-4D was used in designing the construction of wells of a central gathering station. More specifically, the facilities that transport oil and purify water. There are two production lines, each with an output of 3.8 million tons of oil per year.

UKRHIMPROEKT, a leading design institute in Ukraine, purchased Plant-4D to design the modernization project of the pumping and irrigation systems of a sulfuric acid plant operated by its Russian client OAO redneuralskiy.

While inspection is the largest application for 3D scanning, reverse engineering is equally important to industries of all types and companies of all sizes. Reverse engineering is the process of capturing the geometry of physical objects for use in design and manufacturing applications. Going well beyond the practice of copying a design, reverse engineering includes all applications where CAD data that accurately defines the product is non‐existent or unavailable.

Despite best efforts by injection molders, quality problems will arise and parts will fail to meet spec. The failure may be due to an oversight in first article inspection; worn or aging tooling; or a change in molding suppliers. To fix the problem, you need to determine the true root cause. With Cross‐Sectional Scanning, you can easily pinpoint the problem, detect the root cause and make the repair.

Software Outsourcing has become a buzzword in today’s global market. There are several reasons for why one should consider outsourcing software development activities. Outsourcing software development tasks can help in saving software application development and lower maintenance costs to a substantial level. It also adds to lower the software development life cycle by leveraging the expertise available with the third party service provider. This facilitates the organization in focusing in to core business area rather than wasting time in non-core fields.

Electronics and software continue to advance, new systems have to be developed. At the same time, complexity is constantly growing. One well-known way to prevent complexity leading to chaos is to use methods and tools, particularly hardware-in-theloop tests and model-based design. These fields have witnessed an enormous amount of change over the past ten years:

In every major piping project, technical information is exchanged between the various stakeholders; specifically the plant owner, engineering design firm, purchasers, suppliers, contractors, operations, and maintenance. This information is acquired during the design process and is used during the entire life of the plant.

In this article, we present a possible strategy for solving an inverse problem withmodeFRONTIER. The solution of an inverse problem is often required in engineering situations, more often than one would expect. Most of the times, the values of quantities which influence the behavior of the system under exam are unknown and cannot be determined easily or directly.

In production plants across the globe, lean manufacturing techniques are being utilized to meet increasing demands placed on manufacturers. Buyers now require quicker turnaround, better service, and higher quality – all at a competitive price. Originally developed as a methodology to make production processes highly efficient, lean manufacturing techniques have been adopted by more than 72% of machine shops across the country.

The jewelry industry has experienced major changes in the past decade. For many jewelry designers and manufacturers, the impact has been devastating. Over the past ten years, the number of US manufacturers has dwindled by 25 percent, according to the Jewelers Board of Trade. With rising labor costs, soaring precious metals prices and increasing competition from overseas, the forecast for the future is no brighter.

With nearly $85 billion in annual revenues,
BASF is the world’s largest chemical company. It has 385 production facilities worldwide, and employs more than 100,000 people. The business is organized around six segments: Chemicals, Plastics, Performance Products, Functional Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil and Gas. The company has a 145-year history of landmark product innovation, currently highlighted by leading-edge research in such areas as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and energy management.

Compsys, Inc., based in Melbourne, Florida, manufacture unique preforms under the trade name of Prisma. Founded in 1992, initially they were running two Eastman knife cutters with nesting software supplied with the machines, however they were achieving better nesting efficiency through manually created nests. In 2007 they decided to evaluate alternative solutions.

With the aim of creating a new 'living link' between the University of Limerick's established campus and its developing annex across the river Shannon, architects Wilkinson Eyre and structural engineers Arup designed the 230 metre long pedestrian bridge to create an organic link between the landscape, bridge and user. The six independent spans join at the river's islands on tetrapod piers.

The centre piece of the 15th Asian Games was the Aspire Tower, shaped to represent a colossal torch, which for the duration of the Games held its symbolic flame within the lattice shell that forms the topmost section. At 300m, Aspire Tower is currently the tallest building in Qatar.

Arup engineered this Jean-Francois Koenig designed office building. The main features of its unusual form are:
The floors: a set of flat slabs plus the curved auditoria slab enclosed within the ellipse of the building
The four legs: which provide the necessary resistance to vertical and lateral forces acting on the structure
The elliptical skin: consists of curved concrete columns/walls from level 4 up to level 7 and a steel roof structure from level 7 upwards. The cladding is precast-concrete panels.

Rietveld Architects LL P, established in New York City in 1994, is known throughout the United States and Europe for its large-scale, creative commercial and residential spaces. Its international team of architects places a premium on embracing the latest technologies in such areas as energy savings and individual environmental controls.

Doosan Infracore is a global leader in the production of heavy duty, best-of-breed excavation equipment. Until recently, the company created prototype models using CNC and silicon molds or it would outsource its concept modeling to a service provider. The challenge of concept modeling like this was that the outsourcing was slow and the resulting models were not printed in fine enough detail.

Mexico-based Helvex is a leading manufacturer of kitchen and bathroom fixtures and ceramic bathroom furnishings, ranging from faucets and bathroom suites to institutional sensor-operated sanitary equipment. At Helvex, prototypes are used throughout the product development process, starting with industrial design models for new design concepts, through to detailed models for functional testing, including water flow tests.

Objective:
To develop detailed assembly and fabrication drawings using CAD tools for water blasting system
Challenges
• Converting hand drawn sketches into CAD models
• Ensuring dimensional accuracy for exact assembling of components
• Developing 3D models and fabrication drawings for manufacturing purposes
Solution
The inputs received from client in terms of PDF and hand drawn sketches were successfully converted into CAD models using Solidworks. Detailed assembly drawings and fabrication drawings were developed with bill of materials to support the manufacturing team.
Software Used: Solidworks 2013
Engineering Solution:
The water blasting equipment design was re-designed from the available hand drawn sketches and PDFs using Solidworks. In order to comprehensively include the design information, individual components were separately modeled along with a detailed bill of materials. Apart from 3D modeling, fabrication drawings were also developed for manufacturing requirements.
Benefits
• 40% reduction in manufacturing time due to comprehensive design information availability
• Easier modification in assembly as well as component design for future requirements
• Significant reduction in time to market the product